Tag: 2012
Top 12 SSDP highlights of 2012
1. Making history in Colorado and Washington. Election Day this year marked the beginning of the end of marijuana prohibition as Colorado (55%-45% on Amendment 64) and Washington (56%-44% on Initiative 502) voters said yes to legalizing marijuana! Through our online phonebanking tool, SSDPers from across the country made 17,882 calls to Colorado voters under the age of 30 to help turn out
Big organization, tiny budget
Here at Students for Sensible Drug Policy, we pride ourselves on being the largest global drug policy organization in terms of people power. However, we are far from the top when it comes to our budget, and that’s where you come in. Our five staff members work in a cramped, no-frills, two-room office and we’re able to support over 200
Help say thanks to SSDPs donors
The spirit of Thanksgiving this week got us thinking about what Students for Sensible Drug Policy is thankful for. As the largest grassroots drug policy organization in the world, we draw our power from our amazing network of people — students, alumni, educators, non-students, and all other kinds of supporters of sensible drug policy. SSDP is incredibly thankful for all
Election day drug policy results
As you know, this election day was an exciting one for drug policy reform. There is a lot we are proud to report, so it’s taken us a few days to get this message to you. It’s been a crazy week (as you might imagine), and we wanted to take the time to get this important announcement right. Last Tuesday
We did it! Colorado Legalizes Marijuana!
We did it! There were so many people who didn’t think it was possible. There were so many people who never thought they would see the day. But it was possible. And we did see the day. That day was Tuesday, November 6th, 2012, and drug policy will never be the same. The final results for Colorado’s Amendment 64
No pressure or anything, young voters
Yesterday, SurveyUSA and the Denver Post reported new findings on the chances of Colorado voters legalizing marijuana like alcohol tomorrow. In a memo to the Denver Post, the pollsters explained: “Passage would be driven largely by the support of younger voters, who sometimes are less reliable, turnout-wise, than are older voters. Older voters oppose Amendment 64, and if the amendment should go down to
SSDP endorses California's Proposition 36
Proposition 36 seeks to reform California’s existing “three strikes” sentencing scheme, which allows for a person to be sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of a third felony crime. The law came into place after the shocking kidnapping and murder in California of 12-year old Polly Klaas in 1993, by a person with prior criminal offenses. Following the
Announcing our 2012-2013 organizational objectives
Today, we’re proud to publish Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s organizational objectives for the coming year. This document was produced by members of SSDP’s staff and board of directors, and outlines our priorities, goals, and metrics for success for the organization from September 2012-September 2013. MOVEMENT BUILDING Expanding our reach. Our chapter network will expand from 189 to 220 in the
Join Us In Michigan
This year, our chapter at the University of Michigan invites you to be a part of the 2012 Midwest Regional SSDP Conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The conference will be taking place on the University of Michigan campus,on November 10th, 2012. Early Bird registration is now available until October 15th, so please register today. This conference serves to unite the Midwest
SSDP Welcomes the American University Chapter!
We proudly welcome SSDP’s newest official chapter, American University, led by Sam McBee! I talked with Sam about his experience with the chapter so far and his vision for it moving forward; How did you hear about SSDP? I had known about SSDP prior to entering school as a freshman last year and I had seen stickers around campus when
The 2012 Northeast Regional SSDP Conference Is Almost Here!
This weekend, over 100 student drug policy reformers, alumni, and supporters alike will convene in Providence, Rhode Island at Brown University for the 2012 Northeast Regional SSDP Conference. This year, our theme is “Talk It Up”, and we plan to discuss many aspects of the drug war and student activism. This gathering will unite the northeast SSDP chapter network for
Our Annual Report
We’re so excited to release the 2012 Students for Sensible Drug Policy Annual Report! (If you have trouble viewing the PDF, please try the Issuu document viewer below.) This 20 page document outlines SSDP’s accomplishments, online presence, media clips, student testimonials, events, financial information, and more about our activities from June 2011-June 2012. To receive a hard copy of SSDP’s
Launching Our Marijuana Legalization Phonebank!
We are proud to announce the launch of our Phonebank for Colorado’s Amendment 64, the Initiative to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol! Amendment 64, otherwise known as the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, will appear on the Colorado ballot during this year’s presidential election and will be decided on November 6, 2012. It makes personal adult use of marijuana legal,
You’re invited to the 2012 Mountain Plains Regional Students for Sensible Drug Policy Conference!
Register today to join students and advocates from all over Colorado and the Mountain Plains region at the University of Colorado, Boulder on September 7-9 for this exciting learning and networking event. We’ve just extended the early bird registration rate so be sure to register before Monday, August 27th at 11:59pm MST to take advantage of the discounted rate. As
Going Back to School in SSDP Style
Over the next few weeks, thousands of SSDPers will be returning to campuses across the US, and our international outreach team has been hard at work getting prepared for the hustle bustle of the 2012-2013 school year. We have some exciting things to announce, and we hope that our work will make it easy for you to transition back to
Another Intern Joins the Team!
Within a week of arriving in Washington D.C., I found myself among some of the most hard working and dedicated individuals I have yet encountered in the drug policy movement. Unsurprisingly, the reputations of various SSDP staffers had far preceded their own welcoming personalities. Drug policy has been the single issue area that has kept me anchored as I developed
Victoria University debates Medically Supervised Injection Centre
Students for Sensible Drug Policy at Victoria University in Footscray, Melbourne recently organized a debate to discuss the impact of Australia’s current drug policies and its effects on our community. We believe these policies ignore the empirical evidence supporting the harm reduction model of a Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSCI) and essentially, the human aspect of drug dependency. We were
An Open Letter To Politicians Who Have Yet To Endorse Legalizing Marijuana
Written By: Sam Chapman, Oregon SSDP State Coordinator Politicians have continued to skirt conversations revolving around marijuana since what would seem to be the beginning of time, until now. A few weeks ago marked a major turning point in politics regarding the public stances on marijuana taken by politicians. Oregon’s Attorney General race in May proved itself to be a
Meet one of our summer interns!
Working at Students for Sensible Drug Policy has been a dream of mine ever since I found out about the organization. I was introduced to SSDP by Brandon Levey, current Vice Chair of the SSDP Board of Directors, almost as soon as I arrived at University of Maryland. One morning he called me and said I should come by Stamp (our Student
The "Third" Way of the Federal Government
Last week, Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy spoke before the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission. As expected, he touted the effectiveness of the newly unveiled “Third Way” strategy that the U.S. government is currently promoting. He framed the third-way as the “middle ground approach to drug policy” between legalization and regulation of
911 Good Samaritan Legislation Making Progress in Colorado
Colorado SB 20 (full text), which authorizes Legal Immunity to Drug Overdose Reporters, is on its way to Governor John Hickenlooper’s desk right now! The bill will provide immunity for the victim and up to two callers in incidences emergencies involving drugs and/or alcohol. This is a huge step forward not only for Colorado, but for sensible drug policy in
House votes on medical marijuana
In the first Federal vote on medical marijuana in the House since 2007, tonight the House voted 262-163 against the Rohrabacher-Hinchey-McClintock-Farr amendment (read the full text here). This amendment would have banned the use of Federal funds to prevent States from implementing their own state laws that authorize use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana in the 16 states
Have you talked to your parents about drugs and drug policy?
Students for Sensible Drug Policy creates safe spaces for young people to have honest conversations about drugs and the drug war. We think your parents deserve a safe space too. This mother’s day, SSDP is teaming up with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the Drug Policy Alliance, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and Moms United to End
DEA forgets about UCSD student in custody for 5 days without food or water
Daniel Chong, a 23 year old University of California San Diego student, was detained by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and then left for dead for five days without food or water. On April 21, Daniel was smoking marijuana with friends when DEA agents suddenly burst through the door of his friend’s apartment with guns drawn. Daniel was detained and
SSDP Mexico students participate in International Forum!
After the SSDP UNAM chapter read that the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) wanted to host a big international forum to discuss drug policy in Mexico, we knew we needed to be part of it—and act fast! Andrés wrote a letter to the organizers telling them that we wanted to participate at the forum, and it didn’t matter how.
