Pubdate: Wed, 24 Oct 2012
Source: Good 5 Cent Cigar (U of  RI: Edu)
Copyright: 2012 Good 5 Cent Cigar
Contact:  http://www.ramcigar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2599
Author: Audrey O'Neil
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?219 (Students for Sensible Drug Policy)

ORGANIZATION ADVOCATES REASONABLE DRUG POLICIES, ENCOURAGES STUDENT INVOLVEMENT

Students at the University of Rhode Island are attempting to end the 
war on drugs. Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), is an 
international grassroots network of students who are concerned about 
the impact drug abuse has on our communities. The organization has 
over 100 chapters at universities on five different continents. This 
year, the URI chapter of SSDP was ranked the 9th best SSDP chapter in 
the country by High Times Magazine.

The mission of the organization is to improve illicit drug 
regulations on three different level; campus, state and federal. SSDP 
aims to make sure that students on-campus are not losing their 
opportunity for a prosperous future due to a substance problem or 
wrong decision.

The organization's state goals include protecting Rhode Island's 
medical marijuana program from federal interference and continuing to 
push for more sensible state laws regarding marijuana and other drugs.

At the federal level, SSDP is focused on ending the federal 
government's fight against medical marijuana programs and bringing 
attention on the amount of money spent each year on global war on drugs.

SSDP President Eric Casey has personal reasons as to why he is 
involved with the group.

"I'm involved with this organization because I firmly believe in the 
values it stands for. The idea of incarcerating someone because they 
use drugs is so accepted in our society and yet it doesn't make any 
sense to me. If someone actually has a drug problem, sticking them in 
jail with violent offenders and no access to treatment will not solve 
their problem. There are also plenty of people who use soft drugs 
like cannabis and are fully functional members of society, and yet 
the federal government sees cannabis as a Schedule I narcotic, like 
heroin," Casey said. "When I saw a group like SSDP was at URI, I knew 
I had to check it out and I've been here since. It's allowed me to 
travel to amazing places I otherwise wouldn't be able to go and 
network with influential and interesting people."

According to Casey, the organization believes that while it is clear 
drug abuse can negatively impact society, the current policies do 
little to stop drug abuse and actually create an environment where 
drug dealers are free to profit off the black market, while users are 
left stigmatized with few treatment options.

"We believe in replacing our current laws with ones that allocate 
resources better, starting by legalizing and regulating drugs that 
pose little danger to society, like cannabis, while treating hard 
drug abuse as a public health problem instead of a criminal justice 
problem," Casey said. " It's clear to us that after spending 40 years 
and billions of dollars on the war on drugs, if it was actually going 
to reduce drug use, it would've happened by now. Just like alcohol 
prohibition, drug prohibition is too simple a solution for a complex problem."

The goal of the organization is to give the student body a safe place 
to openly speak their minds about drug use. SSDP seeks to support 
individuals who have the desire to positively impact their government 
and community, and to encourage students to be active participants in 
the democratic process.

"Hopefully, URI's chapter will continue to enable URI students to 
play a role in the national movement to legalize cannabis and 
eventually end the war on drugs. As evident in a recent gallup poll, 
which showed 50 percent of the country supporting the taxation and 
regulation of cannabis, it's clear what direction the country wants 
to go, and I think that organizations like SSDP will remain at the 
forefront of the movement," Casey said.

The organization hosts the annual Hempfest music festival on the URI 
Quadrangle in April. SSDP also holds events such as movie screenings 
and guest speakers and as a group, attend conferences. Last year, the 
organization traveled to Los Angeles for the Drug Policy Alliance 
International Conference. Casey had the opportunity to travel to New 
Hampshire for the Republican primary and was able to actually 
question presidential candidates about drug law reform. SSDP also 
testified at the statehouse in favor of the marijuana 
decriminalization bill, which was passed by the legislature and will 
go into effect in April 2013.

The organization is currently planning a movie screening that will 
also include a panel with experts in drug policy reform, including 
former law enforcement officials. SSDP is also looking to collaborate 
with other organizations as well as businesses to improve Hempfest.

"We are also working this year with a variety of different groups 
across the state, including the Brown University chapter of SSDP, to 
attempt to lobby the Rhode Island General Assembly to pass a bill 
that will legalize, tax and regulate cannabis for personal use in 
2013," Casey said. "There will be a number of distinguished 
organizations working strategically to accomplish this goal and 
judging by the popularity of initiatives in several other states, as 
well as by the margin decriminalization passed in Rhode Island, we 
feel that this goal is within reach sooner rather than later."

SSDP has meetings every Thursday, at 6 p.m. in Room 300 of the 
Memorial Union. If students are unable to attend the meetings, they 
are still able to become involved by contacting the organization on 
the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/urissdp , or they can follow them 
on twitter, "We do realize that everyone isn't looking to testify in front of 
senate committees, but there's a lot of different ways people can 
contribute. We are also always looking for faculty or other community 
members to work with," Casey said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom