On October 1, 1998, a group of students at the Rochester Institute of Technology decided to rename their campus organizing group and call themselves Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Twenty-eight years later, SSDP has grown from a single chapter in upstate New York into a global network spanning hundreds of campuses and communities in dozens of countries.

Generations of SSDPers have organized on campuses and in communities, kept each other safe, challenged powerful institutions, changed laws, fought for harm reduction, advanced cannabis reform, defended scientific research, and helped transform the way the world thinks about drugs and drug policy.

We have a lot to celebrate. And we have so much more to do.

The War on Drugs is still a war on us. People are still being arrested, incarcerated, stigmatized, and denied opportunities because of failed drug policies. Harm reduction is still under attack. Researchers still face barriers to studying controlled substances. And another generation of young people is inheriting the consequences of policies they had no role in creating.

But if SSDP’s first 28 years have taught us anything, it’s that students and young people have the power to change that—and they shouldn’t have to do it alone.

So for our 28th birthday, we’re asking the whole SSDP family to come home. 💖

Whether you’re a student discovering SSDP for the first time, a community member looking for a place to organize, an alum who hasn’t been involved in years, or someone who simply believes it’s time to end the War on Drugs: join SSDP. Become an active member. Bring your experience, your ideas, your energy, and your community with you.

This movement belongs to all of us.

Come Home to SSDP 💙

If SSDP has ever been part of your life, we want to hear from you.

Share your SSDP memories. Dig out the old chapter photos, conference pictures, campaign signs, T-shirts, and stories. Tell us about the people you met, the fight you took on, the policy you helped change, or the moment you realized that a group of determined people really could make a difference.

Tag SSDP and share your memories on social media so we can celebrate 28 years of this movement together.

And then come help us build what comes next.

If you’ve been away for a while, this is your invitation back. If you’re new, this is your invitation in. SSDP is building a network of students, alumni, and community members organizing together to end the War on Drugs, keep our communities safe, and fight for policies grounded in evidence, compassion, human rights, and human freedom.

Join SSDP and be part of the next chapter.

Give SSDP a Birthday Present 🎁

Twenty-eight years of grassroots organizing only happens because people choose to support it.

Want to support the largest youth-led network dedicated to ending the War on Drugs? Make a birthday donation to SSDP.

Your support helps us give students and advocates the tools, training, resources, and community they need to keep each other safe, speak truth to power, and change drug policy.

To every student who started a chapter. Every community member who organized alongside us. Every SSDPer who testified, lobbied, trained their peers, distributed harm reduction supplies, challenged a bad policy, or spoke truth to power. Every alum who took what they learned at SSDP out into the world. Every donor, volunteer, partner, and supporter who made that work possible: Thank you!

Happy 28th birthday, SSDP—and happy birthday to everyone who has ever been part of the SSDP family. 🥳💙

Individuals can change the world. Students already have. And we’re just getting started.