Tyler Williams
20th Anniversary Edition Report Card
Over the course of 20 years, Students for Sensible Drug Policy members have come together in our communities, at conferences, and across oceans because we understand this: the War on Drugsis an affront to human rights, cognitive liberty, and evidence-based approaches to drugs and the people who use them. We don’t agree on everything — some days, we don’t agree
IOC Monthly Bulletin
Welcome to the SSDP International Organizing Committee’s August Bulletin! Here you will find updates on some of the major SSDP activities happening around the world, as well as news and updates from the United Nations. This month’s bulletin will cover SSDP activities from the month of August. SSDP’s International Organizing Committee (IOC) is dedicated to supporting youth-led drug policy activism
Farewell! A Tribute to my Time as an SSDP Staff Member
It may come as surprise to many of you to learn that, after four years, today is my last day as a staff member on the Students for Sensible Drug Policy team. As I sit here at my desk in the SSDP National HQ in Washington DC, I find myself at a loss for what to type. If I wrote
SSDP Report Card – April 2018
Hello, and thanks for checking out our new Report Card! We’re excited to introduce you to this new message, which we’ll send monthly during the school year, to keep you posted on the lastest from our network. Curious about the latest news, work, events from our chapters, or where our newest chapters are located? Look no further! We hope you
Introducing our New Chapter at Northern Michigan University
Our SSDP chapter at Northern Michigan University was recently recognized on campus! We’re excited to welcome them all to the family, and have prepared some information about them through an interview with Chapter Leader Perry Boyd. Check it out! How did you hear about SSDP? I first heard about SSDP during our first YAP club meeting this semester. Zach had
Introducing the College of Southern Idaho Chapter
We’re expanding our presence in Idaho, and I’m so excited to announce our newest chapter at the College of Southern Idaho. I asked chapter leader Skyler Rienstra to share some of their journey, ideas, and passion on the SSDP blog. Check it out! How did you hear about SSDP? I heard about SSDP through an article written by Andrew Sewell
Board Elections at #SSDP2018
SSDP 2018 is just about 10 days away, and 15 amazing SSDPers have applied to run for the Board of Directors. SSDP is governed by a Board of Directors, which is made up of student members – elected by SSDP chapters during SSDP’s annual Congress – and appointed alumni. All are volunteers and each member serves a two-year term. Directors
Pass the Mic
Written by Illinois State Policy Intern Amy Hildebrand I’ll start with two facts of cannabis legalization that should, by now, be well known, but nonetheless are important in anchoring the discussion. The war on drugs as a whole and cannabis policing specifically have disproportionately impacted communities of color. (See: Race and the Drug War) The contemporary legal cannabis market is
DePaul SSDP’s Student Voter Forum Recap
Written by Amy Hildebrand, IL State Policy Intern On a frigid Monday night in January, even a class with mandatory attendance would be hard-pressed to fill every seat at DePaul University, but DePaul SSDP was able to do just that last week when we hosted our Student Voter Cannabis Legalization Forum in an auditorium which seated about 70. The evening
January Monthly FYI
Top 10 CAT Leaderboard University of Colorado Boulder University of North Georgia Gainesville University College Cork University of Texas Austin Dublin City University Ferris State University Kent State University University of Vienna Cork Institute of Technology Sarah Lawrence College Recent chapter accomplishments International Region SSDP Nigeria spoke to students at the Nigerian Navy Secondary School in Abeokuta about substance
Introducing the Governors State University Chapter
I’m so thrilled to be introducing a newly established chapter to the SSDP network in Illinois. Please welcome the folks over at Governors State University. New chapter leader Dustin Prince sent us some insight into his process and the new chapter. How did you hear about SSDP? I have a passion and interest to be a psychedelic psychotherapist and researcher.
December Monthly FYI
Top 10 CAT Leaderboard University of Colorado Boulder University College Cork University of North Georgia Gainesville University of Texas Austin Dublin City University University of Vienna SSDP Nigeria Ferris State University Florida International University Kent State University Recent chapter accomplishments International Region SSDP Nigeria held a leadership summit in collaboration with Youth Rise Nigeria. The summit consisted of workshops
November Monthly FYI
Top 10 CAT Leaderboard University of Colorado Boulder University College Cork University of North Georgia Gainesville University of Texas Austin Florida International University University of Connecticut SSDP Ghana Kent State University Ferris State University University of Vienna Recent chapter accomplishments International Region SSDP Israel held their first successful live webinar on Hallalit TV. The producers loved it so much
Apply for School Funding to get to #SSDP2018
The Students for Sensible Drug Policy International Conference is closer than you may think! With the early bird rate ending January 6, 2018 we want to make sure that SSDP students have every tool available to #StartMakingPlans to get to Baltimore in March. This blog post is a primer on how chapters can get funding from their school to cover
SSDP Welcomes the Indiana University Chapter
I’m excited to share that an SSDP chapter at Indiana University has just been established. I’ve been working with Chapter Leader Eliza Goehl for a few months to get them set up, and she’s got some exciting ideas for SSDP at IU. Check it out! How did you hear about SSDP? I found SSDP through the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic
October Monthly FYI
Top 10 CAT Leaderboard University College Cork University of Colorado Boulder University of Texas Austin Florida International University University of North Georgia Gainesville SSDP Ghana Ferris State University Kent State University Dublin City University University of Vienna Recent chapter accomplishments International University College Cork spent 200 hours this summer volunteering at music festivals, conducting harm reduction services including outreach,
Announcing SSDP’s Regional Mini-Conferences
This year we’re slightly adjusting our regional conference format to meet more localized needs of our students, alumni, and supporters. These one-day mini-conferences will bring together our state and regional networks for concentrated events of skills training, information sharing, and community building. Each event is primarily targeted to the region its being held in, but students and alumni from anywhere
The CAT Goes Open Source
We had a fantastic time at Netroots Nation 2017 where we presented the Chapter Activity Tracker alongside Hustle as part of our panel on gamifying activism and building digital organizing tools that scale out. If you want to get some insight into how we created the CAT, why we use it, and what we will be doing to make it better,
How to use CAT points for Reform Conference Scholarships
This blog post was copied from the weekly CAT chat. To opt in to those emails, reach out to your outreach coordinator! We want to explain a bit about the SSDP scholarship process for the upcoming Drug Policy Alliance Reform Conference. Reform conferences are one of the premier events in drug policy reform, and SSDP always works hard to have
SSDP Welcomes the Indiana State University Chapter
We’re fortunate to have connected with Donald Turpen of Indiana State University. In the past month, he’s already founded his chapter and got it recognized by the administration. Read on to find out more about his plans for SSDP at ISU! How did you hear about SSDP? I have actually been involved in the legalization/decriminalization effort for many years. I
SSDP Welcomes the Southeast Missouri State University Chapter
I’m full of joy to announce another newly established SSDP chapter, this time in Missouri. We’ve had folks in and around Southeast Missouri State University for a while now, and their hard work has paid off as the SEMO chapter of SSDP is finally recognized as an official organization. The current chapter leader, Karma Alvey, wrote up an excellent blog
Recapping the 2016 SSDP Midwest Regional Conference
Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s Midwest Regional Conference was a huge success! Students from eight different chapters across three states convened at the DePaul University Campus in Chicago, Illinois on the weekend of October 21st-23rd for a conference that spanned a wide variety of drug policy reform topics. After students settled in with some coffee and breakfast, Spencer Rudnick and Kat
SSDP Welcomes the Michigan State University Chapter!
These are absolutely my favorite blog posts to write for SSDP. I love introducing new chapters. It’s been a blast getting to know Davin Surio. He takes his work seriously, and he’s a serious force for change. I can’t wait to see what the MSU SSDP chapter accomplishes under his leadership. Read on for more about him and his organization!
Dialing for sensible drug policy
We’re so excited to announce the launch of the SSDP online phonebank to educate voters about the harms of marijuana prohibition! Our phonebank system allows supporters of sensible drug policy — whether or not you’re a student! — to call voters in Florida, California, Massachusetts, and Nevada to ensure they know there’s a cannabis initiative on their ballot. Amendment 2
Recapping the 2016 SSDP Mountain Regional Conference
Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s second regional conference of the year was a huge success! A total of 62 students, alumni, and community members from chapters all over the Mountain and Southwest Region gathered at the Auraria Campus in Denver, Colorado on the weekend of October 7th-9th for a conference that emphasized coalition building both on and off campus. After
