International

The Support. Don’t Punish Global Day of Action is a day that drug policy reform activists across the world join together in action to fight for drug policies based on human rights and harm reduction to counter the War on Drugs. There are small grants to support your activities, and the deadline for application is Friday, the 29th of April.

The 65th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs took place in Vienna between 14-18 March, with members states and civil society representatives coming together to discuss the most pressing issues shaping drug policy today. This session saw historic developments largely influenced by the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Walkouts were initiated at various times during the debate and for

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Following the launch of the Second Edition of Drug Policy Reform at the United Nations: A Youth Advocacy Handbook, SSDP International is proud to open registration for the Annual UN Training Webinar Series.Both international and US network members are welcome to sign up using the SSDP UN Mailing List.

To fulfil a more extensive UN Strategy for 2021-2022, SSDP International is proud to release the Second Edition of the Youth Advocacy Handbook.

Shaping its strategy around the EU Agenda and Action Plan on Drugs 2021-2025, the Drug Policy Working Group is looking to expand youth participation in decision making and other democratic processes at a regional level. If you have ever wished to make tangible change in the drug policy landscape of your country and/or at the European level, joining this regional Working Group is the ideal starting point in your advocacy journey.

Today is International Overdose Awareness Day. The day began in 2001 in Melbourne, Australia and has grown to be the largest annual global campaigns to end overdose. With one of the slogans being, “Time to Remember. Time to Act.” The World Drug Report (2021) stated that an estimated 275 million people used drugs in 2020 and that drug related deaths

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In light of recent changes within the SSDP International team, we are delighted to announce that nominations are now open for network members interested in joining the SSDP International Board of Directors! Nominations will be open until August 30th, when the election candidates will be announced. On September 13th, online voting will open, and the successful candidates will be announced at the Extraordinary General Assembly on Monday the 20th of September.

The SSDP European Committee is happy to open its doors to the freshly formed Harm Reduction Working Group. If you’re a chapter member, alumni, or Ambassador in Europe, then this is your chance to contribute to regional efforts while boosting opportunities and resources for your own local area.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is happy to announce that Iulia Vatau ’20 has joined the team as a Global Fellow for Europe and the UN.  Iulia founded the University College London chapter and established a student-led harm reduction volunteering project based on the Just Say Know curriculum. She has been critical to the revival of Students for Sensible Drug

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In some parts of the world summer is in full swing, and we’ve put together a bank of ideas to help you and your chapter make the most of your summer!

Gathering over 60 participants, including educators and government members, SSDP Burundi chapter members successfully delivered a harm reduction focused event, raising awareness on the importance of non-judgmental, non-coercive provision of services to people who use drugs and the communities in which they live. Presented by chapter leaders Lambert Nduwayezu ‘20 and Egide Nduwayo ‘20, the workshop is part of larger

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Students for Sensible Drug Policy International are proud to release a Youth Response to the World Drug Report 2021. Building on the “Share Facts on Drugs, Save Lives” spirit promoted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the Response encompasses youth insights into the recent drug market trends and COVID-19 developments.

This year is the 20th anniversary of International Overdose Awareness Day. With over half a million people dying as a result of drug use annually, it has never been more important. On the 31st of August every year, we publicly mourn, educate people on drugs to prevent overdose, and advocate for better drug policies. We are calling on SSDPers everywhere to run events as part of the campaign.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy International are looking for a Administration & Compliance Officer and a Global Fellow to join our team. Both positions are contractor positions, with a preferred start date of July 1st 2021. Please send your CV or resumé and cover letter to Róisín Downes at roisin@ssdp.org.

SSDP International is launching applications for the International Impact Grant on 1 July 2021!

Throughout 2019-2020, the whole world faced some serious challenges. In the face of these challenges, young drug policy activists showed tireless commitment to fighting for the rights or people who use drugs and advocating for policies grounded in human rights. This year, the resilience of our movement was put to the test and once again, we have proven the strength

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This month, we announced the hiring of our new Executive Director, Jason Ortiz ‘08! In addition to being a longstanding alumnus of our network, Jason has been on the frontlines of the cannabis equity movement and has led over a dozen races for elected office as campaign manager and political consultant, bringing significant experience to the youth movement to end

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This blog is written by Dominic Gill ‘21 & the SSDP Huddersfield Committee. Chapter Leader: Tell me a bit about yourself, what you study, your interests and why you decided to start a chapter. Hi, I’m Dominic and I am a final-year Politics student at the University of Huddersfield. I’ve only recently become interested in drug policy, and have been

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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

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In early December, the brand new SSDP Africa Orientation Training was launched, with the 5 well-prepared, eager, and motivated facilitators ready to train the first batch of participants and begin the task of certifying our members. Read about who they are and the creation of this training here. The first round of this training saw 12 participants in attendance of

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Written by chapter leader Sim Sembi ‘20 and the SSDP Newcastle chapter members.  Tell me a bit about yourself, what you study, your interests and why you decided to start a chapter. We are both intercalating medical students at Newcastle University. We wanted to restart SSDP Newcastle to represent the student voice in the reformation of the drug policy and

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Tell me a bit about yourself, what you study, your interests, and why you decided to start a chapter.  My name is Dennis Lemke. I am a 20-year-old student starting my first year of a Bachelor’s in Psychology (international track) at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. I originally come from Germany, but moved to the Netherlands 5 months

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We are thrilled to announce that SSDP International’s inaugural General Assembly will take place virtually on the 29th of January 2021. During the General Assembly, SSDP International will vote in it’s first cohort of board members, vote on bylaw changes, and vote on an amended international mission. Voting will open on the 26th of January and conclude during the General

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