Tag: drug policy
Our U.S. Campus Policy Gradebook has been updated!
Written by Rob Hofmann ‘16, U.S. Movement Building Fellow Our public-facing U.S. Campus Policy Gradebook document has been updated to include submissions through May 2020! As you may have noticed, we also changed the title of the document from the Campus Policy Gradebook to the U.S. Campus Policy Gradebook, since the positive and negative aspects highlighted in the Gradebook are
Updates from the 62nd Reconvened Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and How You Can Get Involved!
Written by Orsi Fehér ’16, SSDP’s European Global Fellow SSDP’s delegation to the 62nd reconvened session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) featured Jessica Steinberg from Oxford University, Panagiotis Sevris from SSDP Vienna, and Orsi Fehér, SSDP’s Global Fellow. While the session itself mainly dealt with administration and budgetary discussion and, as such, didn’t contain as much excitement as
Introducing New York Law School SSDP!
Written by Alana Hans ’19, Chapter Leader of New York Law School SSDP How did you hear about Students for Sensible Drug Policy? I met Scott Cecil at the Cannabis Law Institute at George Washington University Law School and he told me all about SSDP. Scott also mentioned he was a regular guest on a podcast titled Marijuana Today. I
Intersecting Movements: Drug Policy Reform and Climate Action
Are you coming to Reform Conference?
The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, hosted by Drug Policy Alliance, will be held in St. Louis from November 6th-9th, 2019. Reform Conference brings together more than 1,500 people who believe that the War on Drugs is a fundamental threat to freedom and human rights. You will be among a broad range of drug policy stakeholders – academics, health care
GUEST POST: COULD THE PORTUGUESE DRUG POLICY MODEL WORK HERE?
By Jason Beahm Jason Beahm is the Founder and President of Beahm Law (beahmlaw.com), a California law firm focused on DUI, criminal defense and personal injury. He is a guest panelist at the SSDP Pacific Regional Mini-Conference, November 4, 2017, at the University of California, Berkeley. I recently visited the city of Lisbon, Portugal, and discovered for myself just
Moving forward in the wake of a Trump presidency
As our executive director Betty Aldworth said in the wake of the 2016 elections, “Our fight has never been more important.” SSDP students participated in fantastic victories in almost every state in which marijuana policy was up for a vote. At the same time, with every cabinet appointment made by the newly elected president, it seems less and less
Marijuana Use Is An Asian American Issue Too
On November 8th of 2016, California made history by passing Proposition 64, also known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. As an Asian American woman who has fought for drug policy reform over the past five years, I am optimistic that this will have a positive impact on our community. However, as the daughter of Chinese immigrant parents, I
New Mexico 2016 Legislative Wrap-Up
In New Mexico, the legislative session only lasts thirty days in even numbered years and sixty days in odd-numbered years. My overall takeaway after being at the Roundhouse for fourteen of those thirty days is that it’s an impossibly short amount of time to thoughtfully debate and vote on legislation. This system cripples meaningful debate and leaves the legislature impotent
SSDP Introduces our 2016 State Policy Interns
Pushing the State Policy Envelope As our national staff continues to grow, we are very excited to announce that we are piloting new state policy internships in New Mexico, New York, and Arizona this year. The State Policy Interns are primarily responsible for monitoring, analyzing, reporting on, and developing appropriate student response to state-level drug policy, particularly those policies which
SSDP2014 conference session sneak peek
Today we are proud to announce some of the topics that will be covered at next month’s Students for Sensible Drug Policy Conference and Lobby Day! From the role of privilege and the war on drugs, to keeping festival and concert-goers safe, to how to get a job in the emerging legal cannabis industry, speakers will share their expertise and experiences on
Onwards & Upwards – AMPLIFY in 2014!
We’re coming off the heels of our most expansive & intensive year yet and definitely don’t have any plans of slowing down. We could not be happier to share highlights from this past year with you all PLUS announce our Winter/Spring tour dates & new staff additions for 2014! 2013 Achievements & Milestones: Set up at 75+ partnered
Announcing the Campus Drug Policy Gradebook
SSDP is proud to present its Campus Drug Policy Gradebook! SSDP analyzed the drug and alcohol policies of the top 300 U.S. schools according to Forbes Magazine. From this analysis, SSDP created the Gradebook, a resource which provides both a grade for each school and recommendations for improvement. How Schools Are Graded Campus drug policies were evaluated according to several
New Report, Old Solutions on International Drug Day
Today is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has released a new report encouraging people to stay healthy by abstaining from drug use. The report expounds more on the dangers of drugs and the necessity of discouraging their use, emphasizing in particular the risks presented by the plethora
3 Drug Policy Activism Boot Camps this spring
These events serve to unite the SSDP chapter network for a day of training, workshops, discussion, networking, and expert presentations aimed to help us refine our skills as advocates for ending the destructive war on drugs. Interactive sessions and workshops will be led by Aaron Houston, Stacia Cosner, Drew Stromberg, and Devon Tackels of the SSDP national staff. The staff will guide participants through activities
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
Foro en la Facultad de Economía UNAM // Forum in UNAM Economics Department
*English translation below. Estudiantes por una Política Sensata de Drogas (EPSD), ReverdeSer Colectivo y la Facultad de Economía de la UNAM invitan al FORO RETOS Y PROPUESTAS PARA LA CONSTRUCCIÓN DE UNA POLÍTICA SENSATA HACIA LAS DROGAS. El análisis entorno al estudio de drogas es complicado debido a que el tema tiene una extensa diversidad de aristas. Además, no existe
SSDP on the Caravan for Peace
Miguel, Amaya and I are onboard Bus #2 of the Caravan for Peace organized by the Movement for Peace and Justice with Dignity. We are crossing the United States from the west coast to the east coast, going south of the Rio Grande to the Great Lakes area of Chicago, beginning in the August summer in San Diego and
What I learned at Summer School-Part 1
The summer has been flying by with the International AID’s conference, the Caravan for Peace and my participation last month in a two-week course presented by the Open Society Foundation supported Central European University on Human Rights and Drug Policy in Budapest, Hungary. The goal of the course is to “situate drug policies globally within a framework of fundamental human rights,
An insiders look at Drug Policy in Amsterdam
The Dutch government has had a policy of tolerance since the 1970’s, which allows people to buy and smoke cannabis. Licensed cannabis cafés, called “coffee shops”, are allowed to sell up to 5 grams of cannabis to each customer every day. With this policy, the Dutch government has managed to keep the sale of cannabis out of the black market.
Six Former Presidents, Richard Branson and Other World Leaders: Criminalization of Drug Use Fuels the Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic
Yesterday was an exciting day for SSDP, several students and our executive director, Aaron Houston, participated in the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (more on that in an upcoming blog post!) and the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a groundbreaking report highlighting the connection between the HIV pandemic and drug policy. The report is
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
SSDP on MTV News
We’ve made speaking truth to power a priority at SSDP this year. Our very own chair of the SSDP board, Irina Alexander, led a heroic effort in New Hampshire to get all of the GOP candidates on the record about important drug policy issues. Her work along with that of other SSDP leaders has made the Washington Post and MSNBC. Now today, another SSDPer, Alison
Portugal's Innovative Drug Policies Face Austerity Threat
At conferences and forums around the world, the Portugal model of drug policy is lauded by academics, politicians and service providers and highlighted as an example of effective policy-making. Ten years after decriminalizing personal use and possession of drugs and moving drug policy from being a law enforcement issue to one of public health, the results have been dramatic. The future of
Drug war related deaths top 45,000 in Mexico
On January 11, 2012, the Mexican Attorney Generals Office (AGO) released the latest casualty figures in the government’s war against organized criminal groups. The AGO confirmed that there have been 47, 515 drug related killings since December 2006—when President Calderon gave the military full rein to combat drug trafficking and organized crime. To put this in perspective, in Afghanistan, there
