Students for Sensible Drug Policy: Leading the Charge to End the War on Drugs
The tide is turning. The Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) stands at the forefront of a growing movement challenging the decades-long War on Drugs. Founded in 1998 by students at Rochester Institute of Technology, George Washington University, and American University, SSDP has grown into the only international network of students dedicated to ending the War on Drugs. This article explores the origins, mission, and impact of SSDP, highlighting its crucial role in advocating for sensible drug policies and engaging young people in this vital movement.
Origins: Fighting Back Against Discriminatory Policies
Initially, SSDP set out to fight back against a provision in the Higher Education Act (HEA) that barred students with drug convictions from receiving federal financial aid. While they weren’t able to entirely repeal the HEA’s aid elimination provision, they did roll it back significantly. The upside of this policy that has blocked over 200,000 students from federal financial aid is that it also spawned an army of young people determined to end the War on Drugs. The organization has expanded its reach to encompass chapters in numerous states and countries across the globe.
A Mission Beyond Marijuana: Embracing Comprehensive Drug Policy Reform
SSDP is dedicated to ending the entire War on Drugs-they are not just a “pot club” and they work on much more than cannabis reform. While legalizing marijuana is a high priority, readers of the MAPS Bulletin may be surprised to learn that many of our members “turn on” to reform via their interest in psychedelics. As a grassroots organization, dozens of new students contact our staff each month, and one of the first questions we ask is what sparked their interest in reform. What we find is that reforming laws regarding psychedelics is drawing even more new students into the drug policy reform movement than legalizing marijuana or lowering the drinking age. In fact, MAPS is cited more than any other allied organization as the reason new students come to SSDP to start a new chapter.
SSDP views ending the War on Drugs as our generation’s most important civil rights movement. During the 1960s, youth organizations like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) were leaders in ending systematic government-sanctioned racial discrimination. For more than 15 years, SSDP has fostered students to stand up against the War on Drugs, to educate their peers and parents, and to continue their fight against drug prohibition after graduation.
The Power of Grassroots Activism and Education
At its heart, SSDP is a grassroots organization, led by a student-run Board of Directors. They create change by bringing young people together and creating safe spaces for students of all political and ideological stripes to have honest conversations about drugs and drug policy. SSDP mobilizes and empowers young people to participate in the political process, pushing for sensible policies to achieve a safer and more just future.
Read also: Mastering Research: A Student's Handbook
They bring young people of all political and ideological orientations together to have honest conversations about drugs and drug policy. They create change by providing a platform where members collaborate, communicate, share resources with, and coach each other to generate policy change, deliver honest drug education, and promote harm reduction.
The SSDP & MAPS Connection: A Symbiotic Relationship
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) plays a significant role in SSDP's growth and direction. Young people hear about SSDP when we attend or table at events such as the Psychedelic Science conferences. Often, enthusiastic students contact MAPS directly hoping to get involved, and MAPS staff connect them with SSDP since we are better equipped to manage a large network of students. Thanks to this strong relationship, numerous chapters bring MAPS speakers to campus to teach students about the science and politics of psychedelics, and MAPS Founder Rick Doblin has spoken at many of our regional and national conferences.
A few all-star SSDPers have even gone on to work at MAPS after graduation, using the skills they learned as campus activists for psychedelic research and reform. Randolph Hencken, one of the authors of this article and MAPS Director of Communications from 2008-2011, first became aware of SSDP while attending a talk by renowned artist and MAPS supporter Alex Grey. There, a nurse conducting a psychedelic research study at UCLA encouraged Randolph to get involved with SSDP while he attended San Diego State University. For him, SSDP was a platform from which he could openly express his views about the harms of prohibition and the benefits of psychedelic therapy. Randolph was preceded at MAPS by Jag Davies, also an SSDP alumnus.
“SSDP isn’t just your run-of-the-mill student group,” Jag told us when we spoke to him about this article. “It exposed me to the depth and breadth of drug policy reform issues. “I learned of MAPS and their great work through my participation in SSDP,” says Troy Dayton, co-founder of SSDP and current CEO of The Arcview Group, an investment firm with strong roots in the legal marijuana industry. “I learned via SSDP that one could have a career in drug policy and research. “SSDP was where the rubber met the road for me as a young activist,” recalls former MAPS Development Associate Brian Wallace.
Alumni Impact: Continuing the Fight Beyond College
Many other SSDP alumni are continuing their psychedelic activism in other ways. University of Northern Colorado chapter alumnus Chris Pezza re-started Palenque Norte, an organization devoted to creating spaces for visionary thinkers to share their ideas, which was originally inspired by a 1999 lecture series with Terence McKenna, Jonathan Ott, and Sasha Shulgin near the Mayan ruins outside of Palenque, Mexico. The Palenque Norte series put psychedelics in the spotlight, starting at the 2003 Burning Man festival. In 2012, late SSDP alumnus Daniel Jabbour, from the Stevens Institute of Technology chapter, founded the Psychedelic Society of San Francisco, which works to create safe spaces to foster education, discussion, and community between consciousness-seekers [article on page 35]. “Stumbling upon SSDP in college was one of the single largest influences of my young adult life,” Daniel said.
Read also: Enrollment at Notre Dame
AMPLIFY: Engaging Through Music and Culture
SSDP recognizes the power of culture in shaping opinions and driving change. Through SSDP’s AMPLIFY Project, we connect student activists with musicians who support ending the War on Drugs. While students advertise for local shows and tour stops, the band allows SSDPers to table at the venue and often give a short speech on stage. Students involved in AMPLIFY focus on spreading the word about our organization and cause, and often even engage in direct service to the musical community. For example, at the 2013 Tomorrowworld music festival in Georgia, AMPLIFY volunteers worked with DanceSafe and others to provide harm reduction services for people using psychedelics or other drugs.
Harm Reduction and the Focus on Psychedelics
Sam Tracy, one of the authors of this article and current Chairman of SSDP, joined the drug policy reform movement due to his interest in harm reduction, and became passionate about psychedelics reform after watching videos of MAPS speakers at a chapter meeting. He is particularly interested in easing the restrictions on research and use of MDMA, and works to educate the public about the realities of the drug. His freshman year, he wrote an op-ed for the University of Connecticut student newspaper advocating for research into the medical uses of psychedelics.
Financial Sustainability and Future Growth
Like MAPS, SSDP is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization only able to operate on the generosity of those who contribute to our organization. We invite you to support SSDP today, and to give whatever amount you are comfortable donating. The Development Director envisions, oversees, and executes SSDP’s ethical fundraising practices and philanthropic relationships to generate and sustain support (approximately $700,000 in FY20) for chapter members’ education, development, and grassroots change-making. They are primarily responsible for developing and executing the annual fundraising strategic plan, collaborating with the Executive Director to cultivate individual donors, managing the grants portfolio, and supporting and supervising the Development Associate in their work. This position holds fiscal management responsibilities. The successful candidate is likely to be an SSDP alumni member but regardless has demonstrated deep commitment to the principles of drug policy or adjacent reforms, particularly those which are driven by youth or other impacted communities. They are committed to ethical and grassroots fundraising practices and dedicated to continual improvement rooted in experience, best practices, and effectiveness. SSDP offers a salary commensurate with experience and similar positions in the local market and ensures a living wage to all full time employees. The salary range for this position is $50,000-$60,000 with team performance bonuses and annual salary adjustments available according to the Hiring and Compensation policies. The benefits package includes health, dental, vision and life insurance, a generous paid time off policy, and an Employee Assistance Program.
Read also: Movies for Student Success
tags: #students #for #sensible #drug #policy #mission
