Students for Sensible Drug Policy
Encyclopedia
Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is an international non-profit advocacy and education organization based in Washington D.C., with offices in both Washington D.C. and San Francisco, CA. SSDP is focused on reforming the drug policies of the United States and other countries, while also empowering young people to get involved in the political process through this effort.
SSDP was first founded in 1998 by a small group of U.S. students at Rochester Institute of Technology
and George Washington University
in response to that year's reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965
, which contained a provision denying student loans and grants to students with drug convictions.
Aaron Houston has served as executive director
since June 1, 2010. Stacia Cosner serves as associate director. Jason Ortiz, Drew Stromberg, Devon Tackels serve as Regional Outreach Coordinators. The Board of Directors is currently chaired by Irina Alexander, a graduate of the University of Maryland and someone who has been called "the guiding force of drug policy for people under 55 today".
SSDP functions through autonomous chapter networks in universities, colleges, and high schools around the world promoting student and teacher activism for sensible change in attitudes toward drug use
and drug abuse
, and drug policies
. As of December 2010, there are more than 150 chapters in the United States, Colombia, Poland, Mexico, Australia, Nigeria, Canada and the U.K. SSDP has staff in Washington DC, San Francisco, Ottawa, and London.
network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, but who also know that the War on Drugs
is failing our generation and our society. SSDP mobilizes and empowers young people
to participate in the political process, pushing for sensible policies to achieve a safer and more just future, while fighting back against counterproductive Drug War policies, particularly those that directly harm students and youth."
Values Statement: "Students for Sensible Drug Policy neither encourages nor condemns drug use. Rather, we seek to reduce the harms caused by drug abuse and drug policies. As young people, we strive toward a just and compassionate society where drug abuse is treated as a health issue instead of a criminal justice
issue. We recognize that the very real harms of drug abuse are not adequately addressed by current policies and we advocate measures that would effectively help those who develop drug problems. Yet, we also believe that individuals must ultimately be allowed to make decisions for themselves as long as their actions do not infringe upon anyone else’s freedoms or safety.
Because the War on Drugs has historically been justified as necessary to protect youth, it is our responsibility as young people to stop this harmful war from being waged in our names any longer. As scholars, we seek solutions to society's drug problems through focused research, honest dialogue, and informed debate, instead of unquestioned extremism, punishment, and propaganda."
Structure as a Grassroots Organization: SSDP comprises student chapters all across the country. Any student anywhere can start a chapter. While SSDP has a variety of national campaigns and actions that everyone can participate in, chapters are also encouraged to work on those issues that have the most traction in their own communities. Annually SSDPers convene for a national conference. There, students acquire essential activist
knowledge and skills. Also, chapters elect students to serve on SSDP's Board of Directors. The Board in turn selects SSDP's executive director, who is responsible for tending to both the day-to-day operations of the organization, as well as its long-term direction. An important duty of the executive director is to hire staff. Currently, besides an executive director, SSDP has two outreach directors, an international liaison, and a webmaster. Ultimately, the SSDP staff exists to serve SSDP's chapters and activists.
Legally, SSDP consists of two separate, distinct entities — Students for Sensible Drug Policy Foundation and Students for Sensible Drug Policy Inc. The former, as a 501(c)3 organization, engages in education and outreach. Donations to SSDP Foundation are tax-deductible. SSDP Inc, as a 501(c)4 organization, engages in advocacy, or attempts to effect change to law and policy. Accordingly, donations to SSDP Inc are not tax-deductible.
which denies federal financial aid to students with drug convictions. The HEA has been criticized for disproportionately affecting minorities
and working-class students. Since then, the organization has expanded its scope to include other elements of drug policy like drug testing and student privacy rights, promoting rehabilitation
over incarceration
, harm reduction
, opposing the ineffective anti-drug media campaign, and addressing the lack of objective drug education and scientific research. SSDP's chapters also work on the campus level to oppose prohibitionist drug policies and replace them with sensible alternatives, as part of the Campus Change Campaign.
In addition to working on issues that primarily affect students, many of SSDP's chapters work on local and state-level campaigns such as marijuana deprioritization, reinstating voting rights to felons, and medical marijuana. Chapters are also known to hold day-long festivals to promote their cause on campus, with varying results.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy also wrote an amicus curiae
brief for the Supreme Court case Morse v. Frederick.
of Indiana
is famous among the SSDP circles as the author of the Aid Elimination Penalty in the Higher Education Act
Amendments of 1998. Souder is seen, to members of SSDP, as one of the foremost proposers of insensible drug policies. Souder has declined to engage in a debate
with SSDP members regarding the Aid Elimination Penalty, and instead relies on ad hominem
attacks calling the organization "nonsensical" and "legalizers". The "legalizers" comment came in a Dear Colleague letter written by Souder supporting the Higher Education Act Aid Elimination Penalty. SSDP has since responded with a letter signed by over fifteen other organizations who also oppose the Aid Elimination Penalty including; the United Methodist Church
, the National Education Association
, and the American Federation of Teachers
.
SSDP was first founded in 1998 by a small group of U.S. students at Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester Institute of Technology
The Rochester Institute of Technology is a private university, located within the town of Henrietta in metropolitan Rochester, New York, United States...
and George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
in response to that year's reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965
Higher Education Act of 1965
The Higher Education Act of 1965 was legislation signed into United States law on November 8, 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. Johnson chose Texas State University–San Marcos as the signing site...
, which contained a provision denying student loans and grants to students with drug convictions.
Aaron Houston has served as executive director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
since June 1, 2010. Stacia Cosner serves as associate director. Jason Ortiz, Drew Stromberg, Devon Tackels serve as Regional Outreach Coordinators. The Board of Directors is currently chaired by Irina Alexander, a graduate of the University of Maryland and someone who has been called "the guiding force of drug policy for people under 55 today".
SSDP functions through autonomous chapter networks in universities, colleges, and high schools around the world promoting student and teacher activism for sensible change in attitudes toward drug use
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
and drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
, and drug policies
Prohibition (drugs)
The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent drug use. Prohibition of drugs has existed at various levels of government or other authority from the Middle Ages to the present....
. As of December 2010, there are more than 150 chapters in the United States, Colombia, Poland, Mexico, Australia, Nigeria, Canada and the U.K. SSDP has staff in Washington DC, San Francisco, Ottawa, and London.
Mission, Values and Structure as a Grassroots Organization
Mission Statement: "Students for Sensible Drug Policy is an international grassrootsGrassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, but who also know that the War on Drugs
War on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
is failing our generation and our society. SSDP mobilizes and empowers young people
Youth empowerment
Youth empowerment is an attitudinal, structural, and cultural process whereby young people gain the ability, authority, and agency to make decisions and implement change in their own lives and the lives of other people, including youth and adults....
to participate in the political process, pushing for sensible policies to achieve a safer and more just future, while fighting back against counterproductive Drug War policies, particularly those that directly harm students and youth."
Values Statement: "Students for Sensible Drug Policy neither encourages nor condemns drug use. Rather, we seek to reduce the harms caused by drug abuse and drug policies. As young people, we strive toward a just and compassionate society where drug abuse is treated as a health issue instead of a criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...
issue. We recognize that the very real harms of drug abuse are not adequately addressed by current policies and we advocate measures that would effectively help those who develop drug problems. Yet, we also believe that individuals must ultimately be allowed to make decisions for themselves as long as their actions do not infringe upon anyone else’s freedoms or safety.
Because the War on Drugs has historically been justified as necessary to protect youth, it is our responsibility as young people to stop this harmful war from being waged in our names any longer. As scholars, we seek solutions to society's drug problems through focused research, honest dialogue, and informed debate, instead of unquestioned extremism, punishment, and propaganda."
Structure as a Grassroots Organization: SSDP comprises student chapters all across the country. Any student anywhere can start a chapter. While SSDP has a variety of national campaigns and actions that everyone can participate in, chapters are also encouraged to work on those issues that have the most traction in their own communities. Annually SSDPers convene for a national conference. There, students acquire essential activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
knowledge and skills. Also, chapters elect students to serve on SSDP's Board of Directors. The Board in turn selects SSDP's executive director, who is responsible for tending to both the day-to-day operations of the organization, as well as its long-term direction. An important duty of the executive director is to hire staff. Currently, besides an executive director, SSDP has two outreach directors, an international liaison, and a webmaster. Ultimately, the SSDP staff exists to serve SSDP's chapters and activists.
Legally, SSDP consists of two separate, distinct entities — Students for Sensible Drug Policy Foundation and Students for Sensible Drug Policy Inc. The former, as a 501(c)3 organization, engages in education and outreach. Donations to SSDP Foundation are tax-deductible. SSDP Inc, as a 501(c)4 organization, engages in advocacy, or attempts to effect change to law and policy. Accordingly, donations to SSDP Inc are not tax-deductible.
Campaigns
SSDP was founded around the issue of the drug provision in the 1998 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965Higher Education Act of 1965
The Higher Education Act of 1965 was legislation signed into United States law on November 8, 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. Johnson chose Texas State University–San Marcos as the signing site...
which denies federal financial aid to students with drug convictions. The HEA has been criticized for disproportionately affecting minorities
Minority group
A minority is a sociological group within a demographic. The demographic could be based on many factors from ethnicity, gender, wealth, power, etc. The term extends to numerous situations, and civilizations within history, despite the misnomer of minorities associated with a numerical statistic...
and working-class students. Since then, the organization has expanded its scope to include other elements of drug policy like drug testing and student privacy rights, promoting rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
over incarceration
Incarceration
Incarceration is the detention of a person in prison, typically as punishment for a crime .People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of...
, harm reduction
Harm reduction
Harm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...
, opposing the ineffective anti-drug media campaign, and addressing the lack of objective drug education and scientific research. SSDP's chapters also work on the campus level to oppose prohibitionist drug policies and replace them with sensible alternatives, as part of the Campus Change Campaign.
In addition to working on issues that primarily affect students, many of SSDP's chapters work on local and state-level campaigns such as marijuana deprioritization, reinstating voting rights to felons, and medical marijuana. Chapters are also known to hold day-long festivals to promote their cause on campus, with varying results.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy also wrote an amicus curiae
Amicus curiae
An amicus curiae is someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it...
brief for the Supreme Court case Morse v. Frederick.
SSDP v. Rep. Mark Souder
Representative Mark SouderMark Souder
Mark Edward Souder is an American Republican politician who was a U.S. Representative from Indiana from 1995 to 2010.During the 1980s and early 1990s, he worked as a congressional aide to Dan Coats and committee staff director. He was elected to his congressional seat in 1994...
of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
is famous among the SSDP circles as the author of the Aid Elimination Penalty in the Higher Education Act
Higher Education Act
The Higher Education Act may refer to an Act of either the Congress of the United States or of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.*The Higher Education Act of 1965, an Act of the Congress of the United States that was intended to strengthen the resources of colleges and universities, and to...
Amendments of 1998. Souder is seen, to members of SSDP, as one of the foremost proposers of insensible drug policies. Souder has declined to engage in a debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
with SSDP members regarding the Aid Elimination Penalty, and instead relies on ad hominem
Ad hominem
An ad hominem , short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it...
attacks calling the organization "nonsensical" and "legalizers". The "legalizers" comment came in a Dear Colleague letter written by Souder supporting the Higher Education Act Aid Elimination Penalty. SSDP has since responded with a letter signed by over fifteen other organizations who also oppose the Aid Elimination Penalty including; the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
, the National Education Association
National Education Association
The National Education Association is the largest professional organization and largest labor union in the United States, representing public school teachers and other support personnel, faculty and staffers at colleges and universities, retired educators, and college students preparing to become...
, and the American Federation of Teachers
American Federation of Teachers
The American Federation of Teachers is an American labor union founded in 1916 that represents teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel; local, state and federal employees; higher education faculty and staff, and nurses and other healthcare professionals...
.