In July, Students for Sensible Drug Policy celebrated the achievements of our members during Global Week. To provide even more support to our members all over the world, our Global Program will be expanding. Over the next year, the SSDP global team will establish an office in Vienna to access new funding opportunities, increase our presence at the United Nations, and create a structure that accommodates regional and cultural differences across our network. This strategic expansion will provide members with a whole new world of opportunities for reform. To support this powerful new endeavor, please make a gift to our International Activities Fund.

We are excited to announce that last week, Joseph Macias joined the SSDP Global Team as Director of Development! Since 2007, Joseph has lived in Washington, DC, and has worked in a variety of realms: helping our paralyzed veterans, advancing earth and space science, advocating for civil rights, and growing the green economy for people and the planet. With decades of fundraising experience, a passion for training young new fundraisers, and a commitment to ending the War on Drugs, we are so thrilled to have him join our team and help grow SSDP and support our members. 

Speaking of growing SSDP, our annual Strategy Summit, where SSDP Board and Team members get together to develop the organization’s strategy is approaching, and we will be working on a multi-year plan for SSDP. Have a proposal for Strategy Summit? Submit yours here.

Read through this month’s Report Card for action alerts, recommended reading, updates from our blog, upcoming events, and to see what our members have been up to this month.

Sensibly,

Your SSDP Global Team

Action Alerts 

• Call on Congress to act on police violence.
• Demand justice for Breonna Taylor.
• Demand MORE and support U.S. federal legislation legalizing marijuana with reparative justice.
• Demand that the Department of Justice revoke expanded powers granted to the DEA to target and surveil protestors
• Write your legislators to reallocate police budgets toward education and social services

CAT Leaderboard

1. University of California Santa Cruz
2. University of Wyoming
3. SSDP Leeds
4. SSDP UCL
5. Buffalo SSDP
6. Freie Universität Berlin
7. University of Chicago
8. University College Cork
9. Uganda
10. Kent State University

Stats

• 105 members coached in the month of July
• 1 Joseph Macias joining our team as Director of Development!

Network highlights

• Monalisa Magoche ’18 of SSDP Zimbabwe was on a panel about the sexual and reproductive health services for people who use drugs on Zimpapers TV Network
• Iulia Vatau ‘19 from University College London had their Just Say Know volunteer project approved by their university.
• University of Pennsylvania SSDP wrote an article published in the Journal of Science Policy and Governance titled “Decriminalize Drug-Checking Technologies in Pennsylvania to Prevent Overdose Deaths”

SSDP in the news

• Executive Shuffle at SSDP: Aldworth, Wallis Resign – CelebStoner
• Student founds drug policy group at UW | News – Laramie Boomerang
• Congress Should Pass Marijuana Legalization Bill Amid Coronavirus, Coalition Of Justice Groups Urges – Marijuana Moment
• New York bans use of facial recognition in schools statewide – VentureBeat
• Group working to expand access to opioid overdose drug naloxone – Gainesville Times

From the blog

• Join SSDP for the National Drug Policy Reform Seminar
• SSDP Budapest’s international panel for Support. Don’t Punish.
• SSDP UK coordinates activities across the country for Support. Don’t Punish.
• Our Global Fight has never been more important
• SSDP students launch global Black Lives Matter hackathon

Upcoming events and days of action

These events include those which are hosted by SSDP global, or by SSDP chapters, or in which we are partners or co-hosts, or feature an SSDP member as a speaker. If your chapter is hosting an event that you’d like listed, please let your SSDP staff member know. 

• Ongoing | Online | HIV2020
• August 13-14 | Online (Zoom) | SSDP Orientation
• August 15 | Online | National Drug Policy Reform Seminar
• August 19-21 | Bellaire, MI, USA | 2020 MiCIA Summer Conference and Golf Outing
• August 27-28 | Online (Zoom) | SSDP Orientation
• August 31 |Everywhere |International Overdose Awareness Day
• September 14-16 | Online |NECANN ONline
• September 26-27 | Philadelphia, PA, USA | PABJ Presents: The Cannatlantic Conference
• October 8-11 |New York City, NY, USA and Online | Horizons 2020
• April 17, 2021 | Washington, DC, USA | National Cannabis Festival

Recommended reading and resources

• Orsi Fehér ‘16: Epicurus and the Philosophy of Harm Reduction
• Vilmarie Fraguada Narloch, PsyD ‘09: Is Ketamine the new police weapon against black lives?
• Rob Hofmann ‘16: Drug Policy Alliance Proposes Federal [U.S.] All-Drug Decriminalization, Releases New Legislative Framework
• Luis Montoya ‘16: Dream Defenders “Defund Police Rebuild Our Community” toolkit

Member discounts & givebacks

• Dip Devices’ Dipper – Get 15% off and give 15% to us with code “SSDP”
• Dip Devices’ EVRI – 1% of all sales go to SSDP & MPP 
• Gift your credit card rewards to SSDP with Charity Charge 
• Find your next employee with H2 Talent or THC Staffing & a portion of your fees will be donated
• Get books from our Recommended Reading list and give back at the same time
• Shop to give back with iGive, Giving Assistant, and Amazon Smile
• PABJ Presents: The Cannatlantic Conference – Get 50% off registration with discount code “SSDP”