Psychedelic Renaissance in North Carolina: SSDP’s Gina Giorgio and Jeremy Sharp at the Forefront By: Gina Giorgio, SSDP Psychedelic Pipeline Program Director In January 2022, I approached Jeremy Sharp, my colleague at Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) with an idea that took us both on a significant journey. Inspired by the work of Dr. Vilmarie Fraguada Narloch and Jean
With 2022 drawing to a close, Students for Sensible Drug Policy is reflecting on the drug policy victories we have been able to accomplish over the past twelve months. With campuses and community centers opening back up, keeping the potential risks of COVID in mind,, our students and youth leaders were busy leading efforts to advance sensible policies on their
Primary contacts: Jason Ortiz Executive Director, SSDP jason@ssdp.org, (860) 639-8101 Nadir Pearson Founder and CEO, SMART nadir@studentmmj.com For Immediate Release: SSDP and SMART to partner on HBCU outreach campaign to increase diversity in drug policy Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Student Marijuana Alliance for Research and Transparency launch co-branded HBCU outreach campaign February 1st, 2022— Students
Shaping its strategy around the EU Agenda and Action Plan on Drugs 2021-2025, the Drug Policy Working Group is looking to expand youth participation in decision making and other democratic processes at a regional level. If you have ever wished to make tangible change in the drug policy landscape of your country and/or at the European level, joining this regional Working Group is the ideal starting point in your advocacy journey.
Written by Taylor Hansen ‘21, McHenry, Illinois SSDP Ambassador How did you hear about SSDP?I heard about SSDP when I attended a few conferences relating to the studies of psychedelics. I originally heard about the UK organization and was thrilled when I learned there was one also active in the US. Why did you want to get involved/what made you
Projects: SSDP MORE Act Chapter and Allied Organization Sign-On Letter was publishedJune Hiatus – No meetings for the month of June 🙂U.S Policy Quick Links – everyone is welcome to build on and contribute to this living resource. Be sure to check it out and add to it, it is changing all of the time! All 117th Congress legislative endorsements
Written by Ali Carney ‘21, Heller School for Social Policy and Management SSDP Chapter Leader How did you hear about SSDP? I heard about SSDP through volunteering with the organization Baystaters for Natural Medicine. Once I expressed the idea of starting some sort of drug policy working group at Heller, a colleague of mine brought SSDP to my attention once
On December 1st, 2020, SSDP’s U.S. Policy Council Tactical Team voted to add Sarah Noon ‘18 as a member of our leadership team. Sarah will be the point person for our Campus Change, Cannabis, and Scientific Research Issue Groups. Sarah Noon recently graduated from Oakland Community College, where she was the president and founder of OCC’s Students for Sensible Drug
Last night, drug policy reform was the clear winner in the United States 2020 election. Students for Sensible Drug Policy was honored to work on seven winning statewide initiatives this year and we congratulate the successful campaigns on this stunning victory for drug policy reform. In an unprecedented move, Oregon voters turned out to overwhelmingly support the decriminalization of all
Drug decriminalization and psilocybin therapy are on the ballot for the first time ever in a U.S. state, making Election 2020 unprecedented for drug policy reform. With ballot measures on medical and adult-use cannabis legalization, psilocybin therapy, low-level drug decriminalization, and expanded funding for harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services, our progress as a movement hinges on us activating voters
This is the second part of our Global Country Highlight on Lebanon. If you have not seen the first part, please click here. Civil Society In my view, the NGOs working in Lebanon set a fantastic example for activists everywhere, covering key areas of policy change, network building, medical treatment, and harm reduction. Civil society’s interrelated web of activity demonstrates
Written by Lucca Pastore ‘20, Los Angeles Community College Chapter LeaderHow did you hear about SSDP?I heard about Students for Sensible Drug Policy through social media. Specifically Instagram, and even more specifically from an account called @25i_nbomeme. The admin of this account posts a lot of funny bilingual memes and also talks a lot about harm reduction on his page,
At the start of the Fall semester, SSDP renewed our Policy Internship (now called “U.S. Federal Liaison”) and found our new Digital Communications Intern!Abhi Dewan ‘18 – United States Federal LiaisonAbhi is primarily responsible for assisting the development and implementation of SSDP’s United States federal legislative strategies and co-facilitating our United States Policy Council. Abhi is an advocate, a life-long
Authors: Mariah Gaither ’16, Rob Hofmann ’16, Luis Montoya ’16 As our organization continues to grow and operate through this incredibly turbulent year, we must make sure that our work is centering the desires and advocacy of our members. What would you like SSDP to do more of, or do a better job at? Is there something you want to
Earlier this year, I was taken aback by civil society’s impressive commitment to drug policy reform and advocacy in Lebanon. As SSDP’s first Country Highlight, I’m excited to shine a spotlight on this beautiful and complicated country, to explore its drug laws, recent and important developments, and most importantly, share some of the fantastic work of civil society. In the
Students for Sensible Drug Policy is enraged and disturbed over the decision made by the grand jury in the murder of Breonna Taylor to indict just one out of three officers involved with charges that were unrelated to her death. However, we are not surprised. The system that killed Breonna Taylor refuses to hold itself accountable time and time again.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy has opened its International Office in Vienna, Austria. This historical move is an important step in the restructuring of SSDP’s Global Programs and will help SSDP’s operations become more reflective of the network’s global nature. Our new office is located at Impact Hub Vienna, an inspirational and diverse community of global changemakers. From there, Director
Delaying the MORE Act is Postponing Justice for those Harmed by Marijuana Prohibition Students for Sensible Drug Policy is disappointed in the announcement to postpone the U.S. House vote on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Opportunity (MORE) Act (HR 3884), which had been announced for a vote the week of September 21st. This news is particularly disappointing because next week
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
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