News
Benzinga: DEA Rejects Witnesses For November Hearings On Two Psychedelic Compounds, Advocates Push Back
Coverage on October 7, 2024 in Benzinga by Juan Spínelli. “What is the DEA so scared of that these leading scientists must be muzzled?” asked Robert Rush, a Denver-based attorney representing SSDP. He criticized the agency for attempting to block testimony from some of the world’s foremost experts in neuroscience and pharmacology. Read more in Benzinga here.
Green Market Report: DEA rejects speakers for November hearings on two psychedelic compounds
We are grateful to Debra Borchardt from Green Market Report for her coverage on the DOI/DOC hearings published on October 4, 2024. “What is the DEA so scared of that these leading scientists must be muzzled?” said Robert Rush, a Denver-based attorney who is working hand-in-hand with SSDP to keep research using DOI and DOC legal. “By trying to silence
Filter: DEA Bids to Exclude Expert Witnesses From Psychedelics-Ban Hearing
Special thanks to Jack Gorsline from Filter Magazine for a deeper look into the DEA’s response to our expert witnesses for the DOI and DOC hearing. Published on October 4, 2024. “We have assembled a world-class international group of behavioral and molecular pharmacologists, chemists, neuroscientists, and a former Government Advisor on psychoactive drugs,” added SSDP’s Elijah Ullman, who is himself pursuing
Marijuana Moment: DEA Seeks To Block Experts From Giving ‘Incompetent’ Testimony At Hearing On Proposed Psychedelics Ban
DOI and DOC’s current status as unscheduled compounds has made them de facto tools for researchers studying serotonin receptors. They have featured in more than 900 research articles and show promise for pain management, combatting anxiety and depression, and preventing overdose. Scheduling DOI and DOC would create serious impediments to potentially life-saving research, and yet SSDP is the only drug
Reimagining the Drug War Amid Rising Coca Cultivation in Central America – WOLA
This podcast episode features Kendra McSweeney and Fritz Pinnow, part of a team investigating a new trend: the emergence of coca cultivation in Central America. McSweeney, a professor of geography at Ohio State University, has research human-environment interactions, cultural and political ecology, conservation and development, resilience, demography, and land use/cover change. Pinnow is a Honduras-based journalist and documentary photographer specializing in illicit economies,
Earthstar’s Intentional Music Fest Takes Center Stage in Joshua Tree – Yahoo Finance
SSDP is excited to be a part of Earthstar Festival, a plant medicine unconference meets music festival taking place in the heart of Joshua Tree, California. Learn more here.
Expanding Minds – The Assembly
SSDP was mentioned in The Assembly’s article discussing how North Carolina has been part of a national movement to broaden the use of MDMA to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and quoted SSDP’s Gina Giorgio. Last year, the Health House Standing Committee of the N.C. General Assembly approved the Breakthrough Therapies Research and Advisory Act unanimously, which would allocate $5.4 million to support
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
DEA announces hearing on obscure hallucinogenic compounds – The Microdose
The Microdose, an independent journalism newsletter brought to you by the U.C. Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics mentions SSDP’s upcoming hearing with the DEA over the scheduling DOI & DOC, two obscure hallucinogenic compounds. Read the article here.
Binghampton SSDP Features in Pipe Dream
A group of Binghamton University students have been leading an effort to get a Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) chapter chartered on campus. The process has been spearheaded by Ben Glick — a sophomore majoring in psychology who works as an overdose intervention specialist overseeing Narcan distribution for Broome County — alongside Truth Pharm, a local nonprofit harm reduction
Green Thumb Industries Annual Social Impact Report features Round Up for SSDP
SSDP is grateful for the support of our Round Up program by Green Thumb Industries (GTI). Round Up presents patients and customers at RISE Dispensaries with the opportunity to round their purchases up to the nearest dollar in support of SSDP. To continue the momentum of the Company’s social impact initiatives, Green Thumb is introducing a matching component to its
SSDP Welcomes gina vensel to Board of Directors
Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is elated to welcome our newest appointed Board member, gina vensel. gina’s addition to the board is an exciting time for our organization, and we are looking forward to integrating her vast expertise in advocacy, marketing, fundraising, event coordination, and combating stigma into our work. gina vensel is a marketing and media professional, events
Welcome Kat Murti, Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s New Executive Director
Meet SSDP’s new Executive Director Kat Murti!
Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Vital Strategies Announces North Carolina Youth Overdose Prevention Initiative Fellows
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 17 , 2023 Media Contact: Jason Ortiz, SSDP jason@ssdp.org; 860-639-8101 Tony Newman, Vital Strategies tnewman@vitalstrategies.org; 646-335-5384 Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Vital Strategies Announces North Carolina Youth Overdose Prevention Initiative Fellows With Overdose Rising Rapidly Among Youth and Communities of Color, Six Fellows Across State to Create Harm Reduction Resources and Materials and Coordinated Days
Announcing the SSDP Congressional Session 2023 Results
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2023 ELECTED BOARD MEMBERS! SSDP’s Congress Committee is excited to announce we have finalized the results of the Board of Directors election! Please join me in extending a warm welcome to our new Board members, Justin Ayala, Amanda Ivatorov, and Hena Malik! SSDP’s 2023 Elected Board Directors A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR 2023 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
40 under 40 Black Champions of Cannabis
By Jacob Plowden The group of unsung heroes below are the rising stars of cannabis justice and represent the folks that are far too often not given the shine they deserved for the mountains they have moved to reduce incarceration, create economic opportunity for those who have suffered from prohibition, and building a more inclusive and powerful movement to finally
Saying Farewell to the SSDP Chapter Activity Tracker
The Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) Chapter Activity Tracker (CAT) was developed to gamify member engagement and facilitate the distribution of resources and scholarships to our chapters. The program was very successful in the years following it’s initial release, allowing chapters to compete with each other, learn from each other, and gain access to opportunities and resources along the
10 Days Left to Apply for Support. Don’t Punish Grant!
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.
Students partner with testing manufacturer to provide free harm reduction tools to youth
Luis Montoya luis@ssdp.org Cameron Scally Cameron@dosetest.com March 28, 2022— Students for Sensible Drug Policy and DoseTest are partnering to expand access to drug checking kits and drug checking services for young people who use drugs and their peers across the United States. The partnership was borne out of a mutual desire to make these potentially life saving harm reduction tools
California State University Long Beach: SSDP Strengthens California Network
Interview with Rachael Gomez: President and Founder of California State University Long Beach SSDP SSDP’s Outreach Team is excited to announce the formation of a new chapter at the University of California Long Beach. Since getting started, the chapter has been actively organizing with fellow SSDPers in the Southern California area, connecting with community stakeholders and allies, and are learning
Making Noise in the South
SSDP Engages with Florida’s Emerging Cannabis Industry Recently, I took an autumn drive from Atlanta to Tallahassee, Florida, in order to help stakeholders lobby for sensible Cannabis reform at Florida’s State General Assembly. While cruising down an old state highway in Southern Georgia, lined with colorful leaves and farms whose abundant crops were ready for the harvest, I began to ponder
SSDP International Opens Registration for the Annual UN Training Webinar Series
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.
We’re hiring two U.S. advocacy interns!
Have you ever wanted to work for Students for Sensible Drug Policy? We’re hiring two US advocacy interns! Working for SSDP is a great opportunity to serve our network of students and young people who are leading the charge to end the disastrous War on Drugs and heal the harms of drug prohibition. SSDP is overseen by our Board of
SSDP International Launches the Second Edition of Drug Policy Reform at the United Nations: A Youth Advocacy Handbook
To fulfil a more extensive UN Strategy for 2021-2022, SSDP International is proud to release the Second Edition of the Youth Advocacy Handbook.
