January 2017
SSDP Condemns Trump’s Executive Order on Immigrants and Refugees
Last Friday’s decision by President Trump to halt all immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries has been met with fervent opposition by U.S. civil society. Notable were the thousands of people who protested at airports, the hundreds of lawyers volunteering their time to help immigrants being detained, and a 15,000 person march in Washington, DC. As a global organization dedicated to
Introducing the Syracuse University SSDP Chapter
I’m thrilled to announce that we have a new SSDP chapter in New York at Syracuse University! I spoke with the chapter leader, Analise Sesay, about what they have accomplished so far and discussed their goals for the future. How did you hear about SSDP? I was referred to SSDP by Kamani Jefferson. Why did you want to get involved/what made you
INTL Youth Convening Day Five: The Bangkok Declaration
Written by Convening participant Eva Cesárova, from Youth Rise and the Czech Psychedelic Society. The last day of the convening started with a guest speaker: Gloria Lai from IDPC’s office in Bangkok. We learned about the remarkable work IDPC has done in the past ten years, going through their various activities to cooperate with drug policy decision makers, organize open dialogues,
January 2017 Monthly Mosaic: Immigration and the War on Drugs
IMMIGRATION AND THE WAR ON DRUGS Simple drug use or possession, particularly of marijuana, is one of the most common reasons that people are criminalized in the United States. In some cases, individuals with drug charges are even asked to leave the United States. This is how the War on Drugs disenfranchises immigrants. Drug laws passed in the 1980s and
INTL Youth Convening Day Four: Coalition Building & Regional Advocacy
Written by Convening participant Florian Scheibein, Deputy Director of Help Not Harm. Jan Stola of Youth Organisations for Drug Action (YODA) kicked off the day with a session on best practice guidelines for conducting risk assessments. We identified, evaluated and categorized risks in our organizational contexts. Concurrently, we developed strategies to reduce their occurrence and severity. Subsequently, we developed
INTL Youth Convening Day Three: How To Be an Effective Advocate
Written by Convening participant Samuel Andrews, Policy and Information Officer at the New Zealand Drug Foundation. The third day of the Youth Drug Strategies Convening was focused on how to be effective advocates for the change we want to see. We were joined in the morning by Dr. Sandro Calvani, who shared his extensive experiences of working with the United
UC Berkeley SSDP Chapter Organizes Class on “Rethinking the Drug War”
Last semester, Students for Sensible Drug Policy members Rhana Hashemi and Lalitha Thirunagari organized a student-organized class titled, “Rethinking The Drug War: Historical Context, Framing, and Education.” The purpose of the course was to develop student understanding of how the war on drugs “impacts young people, decimates communities, swells the ranks of the juvenile justice system, and negatively impacts school
INTL Youth Convening Day Two: Full Spectrum Harm Reduction
Written by Kelly Parra-Alba, a Convening participant and Communications Director for SSDP UK After an enthusiastic start to the week, Day 2 began with a 3 part session on Full Spectrum Harm Reduction and what this could entail for our Global Youth Coalition. The first session included a simple definition of Harm reduction to get us thinking: ‘’Harm Reduction is a
INTL Youth Convening Day One: Fostering a Global Youth Movement
As the first day of the International Youth Drug Strategies Convening kicked off in Bangkok today, young people from around the world discussed the ways in which the global drug war has impacted their communities. The first activity of the day asked each participant to share their beliefs about drug policy. The group discussed the need for gender-sensitive policies, the
Good People Call Their Senators
In just 24 hours, the Senate Judiciary Committee will be conducting appointment hearings for Senator Jeff Sessions, nominated to become the next Attorney General. Several appointees are likely to threaten drug policy and criminal justice reforms in the coming years, but none so much as Mr. Sessions. He said that “good people don’t smoke marijuana”. He said he thought the
Introducing Texas State University SSDP
It is with great fervor that I introduce Sharon Medina and the Texas State University (TSU) SSDP chapter, hailing from in San Marcos, TX. The formation of TSU SSDP marks our 4th official chapter of SSDP in Texas. Sharon has been a joy to work with since she first contacted me last March. Since then she and her chapter Vice
International Youth Convening Commences in Bangkok
Bangkok is about to get hit with a heavy dose of sensibility. This week, 26 youth leaders from 21 different countries will be meeting in Bangkok, Thailand for the first ever International Youth Drug Strategies Convening. The goal of the convening is to bring together some of the sharpest young minds in drug policy reform & human rights advocacy from
Introducing Rice University SSDP
It is with great excitement that I announce the official formation of our 5th established (recognized by the University) SSDP chapter in the state of Texas at Rice University. Located in Houston, TX, Rice is home to the Baker institute of Public Policy, a regional and national leader in the analysis of drug policy and drug policy reform. Two of the
Apply for a Diversity Scholarship for SSDP2017
Deadline January 31 at 11:59pm EST In an ongoing effort to ensure that a diverse group of individuals and viewpoints are represented at our upcoming international conference, Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s Diversity Awareness Reflection and Education (DARE) Committee is offering scholarships to help defray the cost of attending the conference. Interested in applying for the DARE Scholarship? Fill out
Texas State Conference Recap
The final SSDP Regional Conference of 2016 took place on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, November 11-13, 2016. SSDPers from 10 campuses in Texas were in attendance, the largest gathering of SSDPers of any kind in the Lone Star State. This conference also happened the weekend after Election Day, so emotions were high for many
Our Newest High School Chapter: Volcano Vista
Last April, I had the pleasure of announcing Matthew Aragon as the SSDP Rising Star Activist at the SSDP2016 International Conference in Washington, D.C. Since then, he has gone on to establish our newest official SSDP chapter at the high school level. Since he first contacted me in late 2015, Matt impressed me with his commitment to harm reduction and
Students for Sensible Drug Policy Welcomes the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley Chapter!
I am excited to introduce SSDP’s first business school students, from the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley! Read on to hear more about the cool things they’ve done to raise awareness of what sensible cannabis policy and industry should be. Why did you want to get involved with SSDP / the cannabis industry? We’re business school
No matter where you lie on the political spectrum, don’t give up on SSDP
Recently, members of SSDP, from students to alumni to staff, have felt frustrated, attacked, and unsafe within the network that we have always called family. We are fighting due to differences in our political beliefs, differences in the ways that we communicate, and differences in the role that we believe identity politics should play in the drug policy reform movement.
Participate in NIDA National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week!
Each year, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse team up to facilitate National Alcohol and Drugs Fact Week (NADFW), which promotes events and campaigns organized by and for youth to learn about drugs. The week includes an online chat where students can ask hard-hitting questions about drugs of NIDA experts.
Gana La Mota en USA
Escrito por el líder del EPSD México Héctor Joel Anaya. Este artículo apareció originalmente en La Dosis. Es un hecho Donald Trump fue electo como presidente de los Estados Unidos, y Arizona no obtuvo la mayoría de los votos necesarios para legalizar la cannabis en su territorio. Y a pesar de que el futuro del mercado y de la regulación
