Written by Abhi Dewan ’18 and Robert Hofmann ’16

Schooling Congress on Drug Policy, the Students for Sensible Drug Policy United States Policy Council’s first week of action starts Tuesday, September 8th. We will be focusing on developing the work of the U.S. Policy Council and sharing action links to get the People’s Justice Guarantee and the MORE Act passed. Details on the week of action are below.

September 8th, 4 pm PST / 7 pm EST: U.S. Policy Council Town Hall – Our U.S. Policy Council Tactical Team will be breaking down the actions for our week of action (Tuesday, because of Labor Day), followed by breakout group discussions to see what our members see as the future of SSDP’s federal advocacy. This town hall is your opportunity to meaningfully help set the agenda and future direction of the U.S. Policy Council. Please bring your lived experiences, share your stories and passions because, in this town hall, the U.S. Policy Council will be listening to (and after the town hall, hopefully working with) you! Please sign up for our Town Hall using this Zoom link.

September 9th: People’s Justice Guarantee– Following civil unrest and increased discord surrounding prejudiced policing in America, Congress heard our voices, but a comprehensive overhaul of the policing system is still needed. For our second day, we will be advocating for the People’s Justice Guarantee, a House resolution calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the deeply flawed American criminal legal system. While this house resolution will not become binding law, we hope to see many of its tenants enacted at the campus, state, and local level–with a flare of sensible drug policy added– through our members.

September 10th and 11th: MORE Act – In November of last year, for the very first time, the House Judiciary Committee considered a bill that ends marijuana prohibition while reinvesting into directly-impacted communities. For the very first time, we have confirmation that the MORE Act will be introduced for a full House vote the week of September 21st. We will be doing two days of action around this bill, with more actions to come the week of the 21st.

We are facing two historic votes to fundamentally change our criminal justice system and to end marijuana prohibition in the United States. Take action now and tweet, email, and call your Representatives to these pieces of legislation passed.