Kat Murti

24
Mar

Fordham SSDP to Host Speaker Event with Drug Policy Advocate Corinne Carey

New York, NY – March 24, 2025 – Students for Sensible Drug Policy is excited to announce that the Fordham University chapter will host a speaker event this Friday featuring Corinne Carey, a leading New York advocate for drug policy reform, harm reduction, and end-of-life care legislation. Event Details: Date: March 28, 2025 Time: 9:15 AM – 10:30 AM ET Location: South Lounge, Lowenstein Center, Fordham University Lincoln Center Campus

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14
Mar

SSDP Joins Psychedelics 101 Congressional Briefing

What an honor to have a seat at the table for the Psychedelics 101 briefing hosted by the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus and organized with the help of former Rep. Mimi Walters (R-CA). SSDP Executive Director Kat Murti ’09 and Program Assistant Chandler Huffman ’25 attended the meeting in the Rayburn House Office Building earlier this week. Dr.

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25
Feb

Help Legalize Marijuana in Texas

Citizen Lobby Day Presented by: Texas Cannabis Collective In partnership with: SSDP, Texas Cannabis Policy Center, Last Prisoner Project Media Partners: Grow House Media, & TX Cannabis TV Sponsors: Thrive Apothecary, GRAV, The Haze Connect, Cardiel Cannabis Co Register: Lobby Day Join us for a day of advocacy at the Texas Capitol! Bringing together advocates from the medical, hemp, criminal

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18
Feb

Join SSDP’s Drug Education Committee!

Hello SSDP Family, We’re excited to invite you to join the SSDP Drug Education Committee as we get ready to revamp Just Say Know! What is Just Say Know? Just Say Know is SSDP’s peer-led drug education program designed to provide young people with accurate information and resources about drugs, drug policy, and drug safety. We are getting ready to

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15
Feb

ACTION ALERT: Stop the HALT Fentanyl Act

The HALT Fentanyl Act  would permanently place all fentanyl-related substances in Schedule I, create mandatory minimum sentences for offenses involving fentanyl-related substances, and impede important research into fentanyl-related substances. The HALT Fentanyl Act is more of the same failed and draconian drug war policies that neither prevent overdose nor stop the distribution of fentanyl in drug markets, will tear families

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11
Feb

Action Alert: Support Funding for Scientific Research

While I’m sure we are all aware of the rapid news cycle and due to the recent change in the White House Administration, SSDP’s Science Policy Committee wanted to take a moment to share some information as it relates to the mission of the Committee. Part of the work we’ve done previously is advocate for increasing scientific funding and create

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4
Feb

SSDP Joins Letter Opposing Halt Fentanyl Act

The HALT Fentanyl Act permanently places all “fentanyl-related substances” (FRS) on schedule I of theControlled Substances Act. By placing the entire class of FRS on schedule I, HALT Fentanyl makes it afederal crime—subject to harsh mandatory minimum penalties—to manufacture, import, or possesswith intent to distribute any of the potentially thousands of substances that fall within the definition ofFRS. Additionally, HALT

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26
Nov

Top 5 Reasons to Support SSDP this Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to use your individual power of generosity to support the nonprofit organizations that you believe in most. SSDP is the largest nationwide network of young people working to replace the War on Drugs with policies rooted in evidence, compassion, and human rights. SSDP mobilizes and empowers young people to participate in the political process and

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9
Oct

The Importance of Language and Cannabis Reform

We all know that words matter, but can the way we speak about a plant have legal implications? SSDP appointed board member and Prop 19 alum Evan Nison believes so, and broaches this important topic in a recent article he wrote that was published in Legal Reader. The article reflects on the importance of language especially within the context of

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9
Oct

Introducing SSDP’s Yes on 4 Campaign Educators

Yes on 4, The Natural Psychedelic Substances Act, is a citizen-led ballot question that will enable therapeutic access to natural psychedelic medicines that show promise in treating mental health conditions in Massachusetts. The measure creates a regulated framework for supervised use with trained facilitators at licensed psychedelic therapy centers and removes criminal penalties for limited personal use. SSDP’s Gina Giorgio

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8
Oct

Sign Up to Support SSDP and Science at Historic Public Hearing on DOI and DOC

SSDP is leading the fight to keep psychedelic research legal! The DEA wants to add two important research chemicals—2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine (DOI) and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine (DOC)—to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, despite decades of safe usage in labs and no history of abuse. DOI and DOC’s current status as unscheduled compounds has made them de facto tools for researchers studying serotonin

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27
Sep

SSDP Partners with Overdrive Defense To Make Drug Checking Cool

Over 100,000 people died from overdose in the United States last year. Many of these overdoses were caused by Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine that has exacerbated the overdose epidemic caused by the War on Drugs. These deaths were preventable—the criminalization and stigmatization of drugs and

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20
Sep

Meet Deandré Smith, SSDP’s New Director of Chapter Relations and Strategic Expansion 

SSDP is pleased to welcome Deandré Smith as our new Director of Chapter Relations and Strategic Expansion. Deandré has experienced SSDP through many different lenses—as an SSDP Ambassador at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), where he is a Doctor of Pharmacy candidate, as an alum of SSDP’s HBCU Ambassador program and Psychedelic Pipeline, and as Vice Chair of our

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4
Sep

Shape the Future of Drug Education With SSDP

We are excited to announce our new Drug Education Committee, and are looking for passionate and skilled individuals to join us in shaping the future of drug education and harm reduction on college campuses and in school systems nationwide!  Apply to Join What We’re Doing: By joining the SSDP Drug Education Committee, you’ll get the opportunity to support the following

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30
Aug

SSDP Features in The Microdose

The Microdose is an independent journalism newsletter supported by the U.C. Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics with over 45,000 subscribers Scheduling DOI and DOC would create serious impediments to potentially life-saving research, and yet SSDP is the only drug policy organization currently fighting to keep DOI and DOC off the Controlled Substances Act. The future of psychedelics rests

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29
Aug

Yes on 4: Massachusetts will vote to create legal access to natural psychedelics this fall

Yes on 4: Massachusetts will vote to create legal access to natural psychedelics this fall After the recent decision by the FDA to not approve MDMA for the treatment of PTSD, it’s clear that the route to legal access for psychedelics will run through the states for the foreseeable future.  Fortunately, there’s growing momentum behind state-focused efforts to legalize psychedelics.

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23
Aug

Victory for Harm Reduction in Pennsylvania!

Susquehanna University SSDP Secures University Approval for Naloxone Distribution on Campus

6
Aug

Welcome Community College of Denver (SSDP at CCD)!

SSDP’s Staff is excited to announce that a new chapter has formed at the Community College of Denver (CCD)! SSDP is a natural fit for the CCD student body both because of its proximity to Denver (which has earned a reputation as the unofficial capital of legal cannabis), and because one of the flagship programs at CCD is the Cannabis

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24
Jul

SSDP Public Comment on Marijuana Descheduling Quoted in Marijuana Moment

While SSDP commends the Department of Justice for taking a much-needed step towards ending federal marijuana prohibition, rescheduling marijuana as a Schedule III drug simply is not sufficient.

24
Jul

STUDENT-LED NONPROFIT FIGHTS THE DEA IN COURT IN EFFORT TO PRESERVE ACCESS TO VITAL RESEARCH CHEMICALS WITH PROMISING MEDICAL POTENTIAL

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is the Only Drug Policy Organization Actively Working to Prevent the DEA From Scheduling DOI and DOC, Which Would Create Serious Impediments to Potentially Life-Saving Research

22
Jul

SSDP Submits Public Comment on Marijuana Rescheduling to Federal Register

Students for Sensible Drug Policy urges the Department of Justice to not just reschedule marijuana as a Schedule III drug, but to remove it from the Controlled Substances Act entirely (“descheduling”).  While SSDP commends the Department of Justice for taking a much-needed step towards ending federal marijuana prohibition, rescheduling marijuana as a Schedule III drug simply is not sufficient. Schedule

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13
Jul

Rowan University SSDP Wins Chapter of the Year!

In recognition of their tireless efforts and amazing achievements, SSDP is proud to name Rowan SSDP Chapter of the Year!

12
Jul

10 Days to Decriminalize 🍁

Every 31 seconds, another person is arrested for a drug offense in the United States.

It takes just 30 seconds to submit a public comment calling for marijuana decriminalization using our tool.

5
Jul

Join SSDP in Baltimore on Monday, July 8th!

Drug legalization is not only harm reduction but also a public health, public safety, and racial justice issue. Every year, there are more than 1.5 million drug arrests in the United States. More than 80% of these arrests are for possession only. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, and

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18
Jun

SSDP’s Top Ten Chapter Highlights of Spring Semester 2024

SSDP chapters hosted 136 on-campus events during the Spring Semester.