Guest Blogger
Introducing Students for Sensible Drug Policy Ambassador Anjolee Spence
How did you hear about Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP)? Hi! My name is Anjolee! Through my interest in psychedelic sciences, I found my way to the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) website looking for volunteer opportunities when I came across the Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) Psychedelic Pipeline and learned about SSDP’s overall purpose of fighting
Introducing Case Western Reserve University SSDP
Written by Rachel Susany ‘21 and Micaela Swim ‘21, Case Western Reserve University SSDP Chapter Leaders How did you hear about SSDP?M: Rachel R: I heard about SSDP while I was scrolling through Linkedin. I messaged a woman I found working as in-house counsel for a company that does psychedelic research and asked her for advice and she told me
Introducing Our Global Operations and U.S. Policy Intern
Written by Liza Begum How did you hear about SSDP? I first heard about SSDP from Global Kids. I had applied to the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) and was selected, so my journey of selecting where I wanted to spend the summer began. Sabrina, an SYEP coordinator for Global Kids, recommended SSDP to me, an organization that she was
Introducing Penn State SSDP
Written by Kunal Gupta ’21, Penn State SSDP Chapter Leader How did you hear about SSDP? I heard about SSDP through my own research as a potential way for students to get more involved in the landscape of law reform regarding substance use! Why did you want to get involved/what made you decide to start a chapter? I wanted to
Introducing SSDP Kentucky
Written by Tristan Harris ‘21, SSDP Kentucky Chapter Leader *Editor’s Note: Tristan is based out of the University of Pikeville, but all Kentuckians are welcome! To get connected, please email outreach@ssdp.org How did you hear about SSDP? I heard about SSDP through the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies site, I clicked on the link and explored the page. Why
Introducing Rutgers University SSDP
Written by Lily Ramos ‘21, Rutgers University Chapter Leader How did you hear about SSDP? I heard about SSDP through searching for organizations dedicated to legalizing medicinal psilocybin and the decriminalization of drugs. I was fascinated as I have always been passionate about drug policy and the broken ones we have in the United States. Why did you want to
Introducing New Ambassador at University of York
Written by Caspar Montgomery ’21, Ambassador at University of York Tell me a bit about yourself, what you study, your interests and why you decided to join SSDP. I’m a 21 year old, third year student of Philosophy at York, where I’m also the founding president of our Psychedelic Society. Otherwise, I live in the depths of Devon, where you’ll
Psychedelic Exceptionalism vs. Decrim All
Written by Josh McMillin ‘20, Kat Ebert ‘18Edited by Abhi Dewan ‘18, Luis Montoya ‘16 After the 2020 election season, many of us were delighted to see that several US states passed historical initiatives for the progress of drug reform. Not long after, the UN rescheduled marijuana and the MORE act passed the house. The War on Drugs is steadily
Introducing University of Michigan SSDP!
Written by Connor Flanigan ’20, UMich SSDP Chapter Leader How did you hear about SSDP? Was looking for ways to get involved with positive psychedelic legislation, and google did the rest. Why did you want to get involved/what made you decide to start a chapter? I wanted to help organize my local community in the ongoing efforts around drug policy.
Introducing California State University Fullerton
Written by Michael Baum ‘20, Chapter Leader of California State University Fullerton How did you hear about SSDP? I heard about SSDP when looking through the MAPS website. Why did you want to get involved/what made you decide to start a chapter? I wanted to get involved because I know a lot of people are harmed by the drug policies
Opinion Piece: After 50 Years of Failure, It’s Time to Rethink the Controlled Substances Act
Written by Trey Brasher ’19 and Elijah Zorro Ullman ‘15, SSDP Scientific Policy Council members (Written to publish on October 27th, 2020 for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) 50 years ago today, on Oct 27th, 1970, the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) was signed into law. Solidifying treatment of drugs as a criminal issue rather than a medical or societal one, the
Global Member Highlight: Isabella Ross ’20
Written by Isabella Ross ‘20, Co-Project Leader of the Just Say Know Peer Education Programme for SSDP University College of London What is your name? My name is Isabella Ross. What SSDP chapter are you a part of? I’m part of SSDP University College London. Where are you from? What is something you love about your country and/or culture? I’m
Introducing Our SSDP Africa Orientation Training
Written by Ruby Rose Lawlor ‘19, SSDP Global Programs Intern In August this year, we began the process of creating this new member training specific to the SSDP African Network to finally meet the requests and needs of our members in this region. SSDP’s African Network is a robust, inspiring, and incredibly active community that have made changes across the
Introducing University of Washington SSDP
Written by Lukas Metzner ‘19, University of Washington SSDP Chapter Leader How did you hear about SSDP? In sophomore year, my partner, who goes to another school, told me about an awesome club she joined that worked on drug policy and education. The work they were doing and the community they were building sounded awesome, so I wanted to get
Introducing UConn Hartford SSDP
Written by Sam Evans ‘20, UConn Hartford SSDP Chapter LeaderHow did you hear about SSDP? I first heard about SSDP through an event that Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) held several years back and have also seen SSDP mentioned on maps.org.Why did you want to get involved/what made you decide to start a chapter? I wanted to get involved and establish
Global Member Highlight: Arvy Kumar ’18
Written by Jacob Chagnon ’17 Jacob: For this week’s Member Highlight, we’re highlighting Aravind ‘Arvy’ Kumar ‘18, former chapter leader at NYU Abu Dhabi and contributing member to the International Organizing Committee. Arvy, my immediate successor at the NYU Abu Dhabi chapter and a dear friend, now lives and works full time in Abu Dhabi since his graduation. Given the
Introducing Los Angeles Community College SSDP
Written by Lucca Pastore ‘20, Los Angeles Community College Chapter LeaderHow did you hear about SSDP?I heard about Students for Sensible Drug Policy through social media. Specifically Instagram, and even more specifically from an account called @25i_nbomeme. The admin of this account posts a lot of funny bilingual memes and also talks a lot about harm reduction on his page,
SSDP Students launch global Black Lives Matter Hackathon
Drug Use and the LGBTQ+ Community – Taking Pride in Harm Reduction
This piece was originally published by YouthRISE Executive Director Ailish Brennan as a Press Release for SSDP Ireland for both Support. Don’t Punish. and Pride Weekend Celebrations in Ireland. Pride has become a time defined by love and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community (LGBTQ+ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning and the + is for everyone else who identifies
Introducing Northwestern SSDP
By Rosalind Wang ‘20 and Shareef Jabba ‘20, Northwestern SSDP Co-Chapter Leaders How did you hear about SSDP? Rosalind: I first heard about SSDP on MAPS’ website. It immediately drew my attention, and I was astonished when I found out Northwestern did not have a chapter. I believe organizations like SSDP would contribute a lot to my school. Shareef: I
Introducing University College London
Author: Iulia Vatau ‘20, Chapter Leader Tell me a bit about yourself: what do you study, what are your interests and why have you decided to start a chapter? My name’s Iulia and I am a second-year student at University College London, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in History and Politics of the Americas. My courses introduced me and gradually sparked
‘Medicinal Cannabis ‘ll boost Nigeria’s economy’
Author: Saheed Ibrahim ’18, SSDP Nigeria This article was originally published by The Hope Newspaper, to read the original article click here. President of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Nigeria chapter, Mr Olufemi Bashorun has advised state and federal governments to exploit the medicinal cannabis market to boost the nation’s crumbling economy. This call came on the heels of
Stigmatization and its Effects on Women Who Use Drugs
Author: Dele Fayemi ‘18, SSDP Nigeria This article was originally published by DPH News, to view the original article click here. According to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) which was adopted in 1979, discrimination is defined thus: Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of the sex which has the
Participate in the Global Drug Survey
Got a spare 15 minutes? The Global Drug Survey wants to know about your drug and alcohol use during COVID-19. The Global Drug Survey (GDS) runs the world’s biggest annual drug survey. Consistent with their mantra of having “honest conversations about alcohol and other drugs”, the GDS asks people around the world about their recreational drug habits through a confidential
Harm Reduction & Drug Prevention: Civil Society’s Search For Common Ground
Author: Jacob Chagnon ’17 One of the most valuable aspects of attending the annual Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is the opportunity to collaborate with other civil-society groups. This work extends beyond attending the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)-sponsored programming–the plenary, the side events–and beyond our network of youth-focused civil society, Paradigma. While many Non Governmental Organisations
