Kat Murti
New App-Based Initiative Equipping Youth With Lifesaving Opioid Overdose Recognition, Response, and Prevention Tools Launches on International Harm Reducation Day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Gina Giorgio Director of Strategy and Development Students for Sensible Drug Policy gina@ssdp.org The new program—created by Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), the largest network of young people working to end the War on Drugs—provides free naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and other supplies to those who complete an hour-long self-paced course on harm reduction best
Young People Fight Back Against Hemp Recriminalization in Texas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Gina Giorgio Director of Strategy and Development Students for Sensible Drug Policy gina@ssdp.org [AUSTIN, TX – April 22, 2025] – As part of an ongoing campaign to prevent the recriminalization of cannabis products in Texas, representatives from Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), the largest youth-led network dedicated to ending the War on Drugs, recently testified
SSDPers Testify in Texas State House
Former University of North Texas Chapter Leader and current Elected Director on SSDP’s youth-led Board of Directors Jeannette McKenzie and Halle Tarvin, an SSDP alumni who was one of the original founders of UNT’s SSDP chapter, testified last week against two Texas bills that threaten to recriminalize cannabinoids and create harsh new penalties under law. The pair have been working
Empathy Over Excess: More Naloxone is Not Always Better
Picture credit to harm reductionist and friend of SSDP Azrael Mae Ní Mháille
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
Victory for Harm Reduction in Pennsylvania!
Susquehanna University SSDP Secures University Approval for Naloxone Distribution on Campus
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
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.
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
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
