Note from the team

The SSDP Report Card for November is out! Read on for the latest in chapter news (it sure was a busy month for SSDPers!), see where our newest chapters have been founded, check out a growing list of events we’re proud to partner on, and so much more.

Since it’s December, we know you’re hearing from a lot of great nonprofits this month who need support, including, of course, us here at Students for Sensible Drug Policy. We also know that most of our members are young people who don’t typically have access to much extra cash. If you’re not able to give personally, would you consider sending this message to a supportive friend or family member?

“Hey [Aunt Jane],

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is doing incredible work empowering young people to end the disastrous War on Drugs. SSDP means a lot to me and I’d love to support them with a donation, but I’m not able to. Would you consider making a gift today on my behalf? Here’s a link to their most recent report card that can give you a sense of the good work they do to make drug policies more sensible.” 

Thank you for staying in touch and for staying committed to our shared vision to end the War on Drugs and start making sense!

Action alerts 

• Demand MORE and support U.S. federal legislation legalizing marijuana with reparative justice.
• Call on U.S. Congress to treat the overdose crisis as a public health emergency and move the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency Act of 2019.
• Support higher education opportunities for all U.S. students through comprehensive reform of the Higher Education Act with repeal of the Aid Elimination Penalty and access to Pell Grants for incarcerated students.

New activists and chapters 

• SSDP Leeds (United Kingdom)
• Stockton University (United States)
• West Virginia University (United States)

CAT leaderboard

1. University of Pittsburgh
2. Ferris State University
3. Michigan State University
4. Ohio State University
5. University of California Santa Cruz
6. DePaul University
7. University College Cork
8. SSDP Nigeria
9. United Methodist University
10. Kent State University

Stats:

• 13 SSDPers as speakers or presenters at Reform Conference
• 61 student members at Reform Conference on scholarship
• 42 US states and administrative districts in which SSDP is active 

Network highlights 

• Ferris State SSDP legalized cannabis businesses in Big Rapids, Michigan.
• UC Santa Cruz SSDP met with Mayor of Santa Cruz Martine Watkins to discuss the Decriminalize Santa Cruz resolution.
• 15 Michigan State University SSDPers completed the Introduction to Peer Education lesson of our Just Say Know training curriculum.
• College of Charleston SSDP secured $4250 from the school to fund their trip to the Reform Conference.
• Georgia State University SSDP raised $600 from a local business to help cover expenses to attend the Reform Conference. 
• SSDPers from University of North Texas met with a Denton city council members, Paul Meltzer, Gerald Hudspeth, and Deb Armintor, to discuss their group’s local cannabis reform campaign.
• Five SSDPers from University of Texas Austin, University of Houston, and University of North Texas gave a joint presentation on how to get involved with SSDP for the Community Voices section of the Psychedelic Science Summit.
• SSDP Nigeria‘s Monthly Whatsapp call set a new record for most participants with 199 people on the call.
• SSDP Zimbabwe pitched public health policy reform suggestions to parliamentarians. 
• SUNY New Paltz SSDP met with village trustee Alex Wojick to advocate for the decriminalization of open container violations.
• University of Missouri SSDP got their school’s wellness center to send an email to all students explaining the 911 Good Samaritan policies of the school.
• Julia Hilbert ‘17, who is an SSDP certified peer educator, was honored by the Incline as one of the “Who’s Next: First Responders” for her opioid overdose prevention work through SSDP and Prevention Point, Pittsburgh. 
• UC Santa Cruz SSDP presented their resolution decriminalizing psychoactive plants to the Santa Cruz city council.
• Reed College SSDP persuaded the school’s Community Safety Manager to create between one and three student positions on the Community Safety Committee dedicated to harm-reduction services on campus.
• University of North Texas SSDP got their student government to unanimously pass a resolution equalizing the punishment students receive for alcohol violations and punishments students receive for other drug violations. 
• The Pittsburgh school district, the largest in the state, was inspired by SSDP to relax campus marijuana policies.
• Oakland Community College SSDP’s Know Your Rights event had the highest attendance of any recorded student meeting at the school.

SSDP in the news 

• House Panel Votes To Let Students With Drug Convictions Keep College Aid – Forbes
• Pioneer Public – Christian Ferarro – Point Park Globe
• 128 Rights Groups Urge New York Legislature to Implement Pretrial Reforms – Human Rights Watch
• Students for Sensible Drug Policy Group Sets Up in Trinity – The University Times
• Drug reform activist says how drug policy impacts African Americans – The Maneater
• Santa Cruz Considers Decriminalizing ‘Magic Mushrooms’ – CBS San Francisco
• Where US Psychedelic Decriminalization Efforts Stand Right Now – Filter
• Higher Education Act (HEA), Aid Elimination Penalty: A Thing of the Past – The Valparaiso Daily News
• Chicago Housing Authority’s Pot Ban Means No Legal Cannabis Mechanism For The Poor – High Times
• Students write cannabis social equity bill – Willamette University Collegian
• UTPD needs to decrease drug arrests, increase referrals – UT The Daily Texan
• Trinity Needs a Drug Policy – And Badly – The University Times

From the blog

• Community Chapters: What are they and how do I start one?
• SSDP Report Card for October 2019
• Action Alert: Support marijuana justice in 3 minutes 
• Just Say Know Monthly Roundup – November 2019
• SSDP Now Accepting Application for Psychedelic Pipeline Mentorship Program
• #Reform19 Conference Recap
• Tell Us How We’re Doing: European Feedback Form 
• Introducing Middlebury College SSDP
• Register today for #Sensible2020: The Young People’s Drug Policy Conference
• Politics and Harm Reduction: Four countries’ syringe access stories  

Upcoming events and days of action

• December 11-13 | Las Vegas, NV, USA | Marijuana Business MJBizCon 
• December 10 | Everywhere| Human Rights Day
• March 2-6 | Vienna, Austria |  63rd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs
• March 13-22 | Austin, TX, USA | South by Southwest with Alex Kreit ‘98, Dan Goldman ‘99, Kris Krane ‘98, Troy Dayton ‘98, and Betty Aldworth
• March 27-30 | Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC, USA | #Sensible2020: The The Young People’s Drug Policy Conference & Lobby Day
• Available to stream any time | Everywhere | Cannabis Economy’s Digital Workshop with Amanda Reiman ‘98, Shaleen Title ‘02, & Betty Aldworth

Recommended reading + resources

• Róisín Downes ‘15: Trinity Needs a Drug Policy – And Badly
• James Gould ‘15:  When “Violent Offenders” Commit Nonviolent Crimes
• Amy Hildebrand ‘15: Brothers’ aerial anti-overdose drone delivery system wins top honors at conference
• Rob Hofmann ‘16: Decarceration USA: A Roundup of Campaigns to Close Local Jails
• Luis Montoya ‘16: The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Nonprofit Industrial Complex
• Vilmarie Narloch ‘09: We will call it Pala: A story for the psychedelic movement
• Stacia Wallis ‘05: New “Legalize People Who Use Drugs” T-shirts and other merch in the SSDP store

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 
• ExtractCraft’s Source Turbo – Get 10% off and give 10% to us with code “SSDP”
• 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
• Shop to give back with iGive, Giving Assistant, and Amazon Smile