Written by Jarell Corley ‘22, Hyde Park, Illinois SSDP Ambassador As a former medical marijuana activist and current electoral reform advocate, I am passionate about serious efforts to reform outdated policies influencing many aspects of our society; one in particular is drug policy. This article is in response to President Biden’s executive order pardoning all federal offenses of simple marijuana
50 years ago today, former US President Richard Nixon declared drugs and people who use them “public enemy number one.” Since then, the global War on Drugs has taken the lives of thousands and ruined the lives of millions through criminalization, incarceration, and making drug use dangerous under prohibition. The War on Drugs was racially motivated from the very beginning. John Ehrlichman,
For Immediate Release Primary contact: Rob Hofmann, United States Outreach and Policy Coordinator, Students for Sensible Drug Policy(607) 316-0227, robert@ssdp.org Secondary Contact: Jason Ortiz, Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy(860) 639-8101, jason@ssdp.org Today, 78 Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) chapters sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi, House Majority Leader Hoyer, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy urging
The reintroduction of the MORE Act would remove federal penalties for marijuana and seek to repair the harms caused by decades of racially biased policing. Today, leaders in the House of Representatives reintroduced a landmark bill to end federal marijuana prohibition and begin to repair the harms caused by decades of disproportionate arrests and prosecutions. The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and
The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act is expected to be re-introduced in the House of Representatives tomorrow (May 28th).In 2020, the House made history by passing the MORE Act, which would end the criminalization of marijuana at the federal level and provide grants to communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs. With a split Senate and ever-increasing
Written by Evan Hudson ‘21, Dubuque, Iowa SSDP Ambassador How did you hear about SSDP? I’ve been aware of SSDP’s work since high school, but only recently looked into getting involved as an extension of my work in harm reduction. Why did you want to get involved/what made you decide to start an SSDP Ambassadorship? I was inspired to become
Written by Trey Brasher ’19 and Elijah Zorro Ullman ‘15, SSDP Scientific Policy Council members (Written to publish on October 27th, 2020 for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) 50 years ago today, on Oct 27th, 1970, the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) was signed into law. Solidifying treatment of drugs as a criminal issue rather than a medical or societal one, the
In a historic victory for drug policy reform and a historic blow to marijuana prohibition in the United States, the MORE Act has passed in the House of Representatives. From the passing of the Controlled Substances Act and its implementation in 1971 to now, hundreds of thousands of people have been arrested for marijuana possession. It’s truly hard to overstate the
Written by Orsi Fehér ’16 and Beatrix Vas ’19 Support our UN Advocacy work. Make a gift to SSDP’s International Activities Fund today. Drug policy history was made yesterday as the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) removed cannabis from Schedule IV in the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 After two years of active procrastination, the CND finally made
Later this week, the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, H.R. 3884. This will mark the first time that Congress vote on the legal status of marijuana since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act a half-century ago. If you’re reading this email, you have probably already taken action to get
Written by Abhi Dewan ‘18, U.S. Federal Policy Liaison 50 years ago today, the House of Representatives voted to list marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance, escalating the war on marijuana. Last week, the House was poised to remedy injustice for those impacted, but instead chose to postpone their scheduled vote on the MORE Act. Though the bill was
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