Our Mission
Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is the largest national youth-led network dedicated to ending the War on Drugs. At its heart, SSDP is a grassroots organization, led by a Board of Directors primarily elected by and from our student and youth members. We bring young people of all political and ideological orientations together to have honest conversations about drugs and drug policy. We create change by providing a platform where members collaborate, communicate, share resources with, and coach each other to generate policy change, deliver honest drug education, and promote harm reduction. Founded in 1998, SSDP is comprised of thousands of members in hundreds of communities around the United States.
Our Values
Students for Sensible Drug Policy is a grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact of drug misuse on our communities, but who also know that the “War on Drugs” is failing our generation and our society.
SSDP mobilizes and empowers young people to participate in the political process, pushing for sensible policies to achieve a safer and more just future. SSDP does this while fighting back against counterproductive policies – in particular, those that directly harm students and youth.
Shared power and authority
Youth-controlled agenda
Collaboration and partnership
Constituent-specific strategies
Learning
Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-racism
SSDP neither condones nor condemns drug use. Instead, we respect the right of individuals to make decisions about their own health and well-being. We promote youth civic engagement as a critical tool in reforming drug policy. SSDP respects the diverse experiences and identities of our constituents. We develop leaders who advocate for policy changes based on justice, liberty, compassion, and reason.
SSDP’s Structure as a Grassroots Organization
Through SSDP, young people acquire essential community organizing and activist knowledge and skills and forge bonds to support lifelong advocacy. SSDP members practice self-governance by voting on resolutions and electing student Directors of the Board, who fill two-thirds of the seats on the board.
The Board of Directors is responsible for organizational governance, fundraising, and strategic direction. Directors select and oversee SSDP’s Executive Director, who is responsible for tending to both the day-to-day operations of the organization and its long-term direction. The Executive Director oversees SSDP staff, who exist to serve and represent SSDP’s chapters and activists.
Legally, SSDP consists of two separate, distinct entities – Students for Sensible Drug Policy Foundation and Students for Sensible Drug Policy Inc. The former – as a 501(c)(3) organization – engages in education and outreach. Donations to SSDP Foundation are tax-deductible. SSDP Inc. – as a 501(c)(4) organization – engages in advocacy or attempts to affect change to law and policy. Accordingly, donations to SSDP Inc. are not tax-deductible. Click here to read SSDP Foundation’s bylaws.
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