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SSDP is excited to announce that we are beginning a collaborative project with High Times magazine.  Because High Times has such large and varied readership, they are able to reach an incredible amount of people who are interested in issues involving marijuana policy.  Through this new partnership, we are now able to reach those people as well and draw their attention to the great work being done by SSDP chapters to affect drug policies on their campuses.  This way readers who are interested in the advocacy aspect of marijuana culture can become aware of SSDP and our efforts, inspiring them to get involved!   There are 2 ways that your chapter can participate in this High Times collaboration:  IN PRINT & ONLINE

1) Keep in mind the lead time.  Since it typically takes almost 3 months for a submission to see print, "event coverage" is usually stale by the time it will actually run, but an account of an interesting speaker on campus, including quotes from the speaker, could still work.  Special consideration will be given to any "success stories" in which SSDP chapters or members have made tangible gains for the movement.  

2) Tell local stories that will inspire fellow activists across the country.  It will be best if chapters write about local interests with national implications (i.e. how you are affecting local policy and culture) rather than opinions about national policy.  

3) Only complete submissions will be considered.  Instead of pitching a story idea, present your full story (aim for around 400 words) to stacia@ssdp.org then if it has been selected to run in the magazine, our contacts at High Times would be glad to work directly with the author on further edits.  

 

 

 

Guidelines for SSDP Article

Submissions to High Times

Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis and can be sent to stacia@ssdp.org. If selected for publication in High Times’ print edition, your chapter will receive $250! Also, be conscious of the lead-time necessary when writing for a magazine, it will take about 3 months before it will see print.  If your article is not selected to be published, it might still be approved and published to High Times’ blog section of their website. 

Note on article content: While we recognize that the majority of High Times\' articles are about how wonderful marijuana is, they\'ve specifically asked us for articles about drug policy reform, not drug use. This is an opportunity to be a unique voice in the magazine, representing the student movement to end the War on Drugs, which includes people who use marijuana and others who don\'t.

 

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN WRITING AN ARTICLE TO SUBMIT

Purpose

- To showcase the work your chapter is doing

- To get people interested in the drug policy reform movement

- To get students interested in SSDP

Tone

- Professional, yet personal

- Connect a story to a policy or political purpose

Audience

- Will the ordinary High Times reader be interested in what you are saying?

- Will it inspire them to learn more about SSDP and the drug policy reform movement?

Representation

- How do you want your article to reflect on your school, your chapter, yourself as an individual and SSDP as a national org?

Author

- The author of these articles does not need to be the president or even an officer of your chapter

- It might be a good idea to reach out to your members to see if any journalism, English, or other relevant majors (or anyone who is a skilled writer) would want to work with you to develop something

 

THINGS TO WRITE ABOUT

- Any successful policy changes, campaigns, or developments on campus achieved by your chapter

- Something that inspired your chapter to take action

- Story about how you, or any of your chapter members got involved in SSDP

- Reactions (can be good or bad) from your campus community to any actions taken by your chapter

- Lessons learned from unsuccessful actions/events/campaigns

- Stories about how you were able to mobilize large numbers of people (for a protest, petition, event, concert, etc.)

- If you write about an event, try to include quotes from speakers to make it relevant to a larger audience

 

THINGS NOT TO WRITE ABOUT

- Anything that glorifies or promotes drug use

- Things that are only relevant to students on your campus

- Personal opinions for or against specific political candidates, officials, parties, or campaigns

- Use your judgment; remember to ask yourself “is this really something that is appropriate for thousands of readers across the U.S. and the world?”

 

 

 Questions?  Please contact outreach director Stacia Cosner at stacia@ssdp.org.