SSDP’s Top 5 Reflections of 2025
In 2025, SSDP turned momentum into meaningful impact across every level of drug policy reform. From hosting and participating in powerful events that convened students, advocates, and policymakers, to mobilizing young leaders for lobby days that brought student voices directly to statehouses and decision-makers, our movement showed up where it mattered most.
SSDP members also stepped into public committees and advisory spaces, ensuring that evidence-based, youth-driven perspectives shaped policy discussions in real time. At the same time, we expanded harm reduction and drug education efforts by distributing lifesaving resources, advancing overdose prevention, and equipping communities with honest, science-based information.
At the heart of this work was the continued growth of SSDP’s national and global network, strengthening connections across campuses and communities and proving that when students organize together, they can drive lasting, compassionate change.
#1: SSDP Events Bring Our Community Together
The in-person connections we make through our numerous events is where our movement truly comes alive. Through conferences, trainings, meetings, and social gatherings, students and community members from across the entire country come together to learn, organize, and build lasting relationships to advance drug reform.
In an era marked by isolation, burnout, and disconnection, SSDP events offer something increasingly rare: genuine human connection. Meeting face-to-face allows everyone the opportunity to be seen, heard, and invigorated to transform our passions into action. Our events deepen engagement and inspire participants to continue involvement with SSDP for years to come.
A few top events that SSDP participated in 2025 include:
- After the Drug War Summit, Washington DC
- LibertyCon, Washington, DC
- Psychedelics As Medicine, Reykjavík, Iceland
- United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Vienna, Austria
- Psychedelic Culture, San Francisco, California
- Cannabis Week of Unity, Washington DC
- Psychedelic Science, Denver, Colorado
- Harvard Psychedelics Bootcamp, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Arctic Visions, Anchorage, Alaska
- PA Cannabis Day of Unity, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- Reform Conference, Detroit, Michigan
- Philadelic, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- MJBizCon, Las Vegas, Nevada
#2: Lobby Days are SSDP Activism in Motion
Lobby days are one of the clearest examples of SSDP’s mission in action. By bringing students and advocates directly to lawmakers, we show that young people are engaged and serious about ending the war on drugs and replacing it with evidence-based, compassionate policy. These advocacy efforts unite our network around shared priorities while giving participants hands-on experience in civic engagement.
SSDP conducted a federal lobbying event to legalize and improve cannabis legislation in D.C. this past April, along with numerous state efforts such as recent lobbying in Pennsylvania to pass cannabis legalization. Our staff, members, and students have met with numerous offices to discuss harm reduction, psychedelics, marijuana, criminal justice, kratom and 7-OH, nicotine, research harms, and more.
By engaging any interested lawmakers across a wide range of drug policy topics, we create relationships built on trust and evidence. Effective reform requires nuance, science, and lived experience. SSDP members are more than prepared to lead this conversation at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Stay tuned for ways you can get involved with lobbying in 2026!
#3: Public Committees Opened Our Work to New Ambassadors
SSDP has numerous public committees that become vital entry points for new leaders and advocates to get involved in the movement. Committees focused on areas such as harm reduction, psychedelics, science policy, law & justice, drug education, and more have created space for ongoing collaboration beyond individual events and educational campaigns. These groups allow members to input their interests and expertise consistently.
By opening this work to a wider audience, SSDP empowers more individuals to become ambassadors for sensible drug policy. These committees foster dialogue, encourage diverse perspectives, and ensure that our movement reflects the voices of the people directly impacted.
#4: A Year Focused on Drug Education & Harm Reduction
2025 marked a renewed commitment to honest, practical drug education, highlighted by the launch of SSDP’s HOPE program. This program consists of a self-paced app-based training on opioid overdose recognition, response, and prevention best practices.
Rather than relying on fear-based or abstinence-only messaging, SSDP continues to champion education that reflects reality, acknowledging that substance use exists and that everyone deserves accurate information to make informed choices.
In addition to online trainings, we hosted in-person HOPE trainings at events like the National Cannabis Festival, Psychedelic Science, and Reform.
Our approach to drug education centers around harm reduction. It is not an endorsement of substance use; it’s an opportunity to show compassion through evidence. We must be honest about risks, effects, benefits, and safer use practices. By meeting students where they are, SSDP helps reduce stigma, prevent harm, and ultimately save lives!
#5: A Year of SSDP Network Growth
SSDP’s network continued to grow rapidly in 2025, with expanding student involvement, more and more community chapters, and increased turnout at numerous gatherings. You do not need to be a student to become an SSDP Ambassador! Anyone who cares about ending the War on Drugs is invited to get active with SSDP (Alumni, this means you too!).”
As more students and community members join SSDP, our collective impact becomes more noticeable. Each new connection strengthens our ability to organize, educate, and advocate for sensible drug policies. Our growth signals more than just interest, it shows that there is trust that SSDP will serve as a home for principled, evidence-based reform and a vision of drug policy rooted in care, dignity, and justice.
It’s been an incredible year. We hope that you’ll continue on this journey with us in the new year.
