Students for Sensible Drug Policy

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Students for Sensible Drug Policy
AbbreviationSSDP  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Established1988  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg (37 years ago)
Legal status 501(c)(3) organization   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Headquarters Washington, D.C.   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Website www.ssdp.org   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is an international nonprofit organization advocacy and education organization with a focus on drug policy, war on drugs, marijuana legalization, psychedelics, juvenile justice and youth rights, drug decriminalization, and criminal justice reform. SSDP promotes global youth civic engagement as a tool in reforming drug policy. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) was founded in 1998 by students at Rochester Institute of Technology, George Washington University, and American University. [1] [3]

SSDP has expanded from a single chapter in upstate New York created by a handful of students to a network of over 150 chapters worldwide.

Board

SSDP is governed by a board of directors and a board of trustees, a designated body of the board of directors. Together, they are responsible for crafting strategy for the organization, overseeing compliance and financial affairs, and overseeing SSDP’s Executive Director. [4] At least two-thirds of the members of SSDP's board of directors are students or young people elected by SSDP's chapters each year during the organization's national Congress. As of 2025, Kat Murti is the Executive Director and Karley Snyder is the Board Chair. [5] [ non-primary source needed ]

Main issues

Marijuana policy reform

Students and chapters work on marijuana policy reform [6] at the local, state, and federal levels by supporting legislation and ballot initiatives for decriminalization, medical marijuana, adult-use taxation and regulation, and social equity measures for communities disproportionately targeted by marijuana prohibition. [7]

Psychedelic policy reform

SSDP provides resources for its members to advocate for psychedelic policy reform, [3] such as psychedelic therapy programs and allowing the research of currently prohibited psychedelic substances by researchers. [8]

Ending student drug testing

Students should not have to submit to a drug test at random [9] or to participate in extracurricular activities. [10]

Global drug policy

SSDP is a member of the Economic and Social Council and a consultant to its functional commissions. SSDP has been advocating for policy reform and youth inclusion at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, including the 2016 Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the World Drug Problem and the High Level Ministerial Segment in 2019. [11]

SSDP Global Drug Policy and Development Consultant Orsi Fehér, served as Treasurer on the board of the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs between 2018 and 2020.

The organization also coordinates youth participation in global campaigns such as Support. Don't Punish [12] and International Overdose Awareness Day.

Drug decriminalization

SSDP encourages chapters to create and support campaigns to decriminalize simple drug possession and other low-level crimes associated with drug use. [13] [7]

"Just Say Know" drug education

Just Say Know [14] is a peer-to-peer drug education program, provides evidence-based drug information on campus and empowers them to reduce drug-related harm within their communities. [15]

Campus chapters

SSDP is made up of students and community members organized on college and high school campuses across the world. [2] [16] In 2015–2016, SSDP chapters were on 320 campuses, included 4,312 student activists and engaged in 135 drug policy initiatives. In 2021, the movement expanded to over 30 countries and all six habitable continents.

International

SSDP’s international chapters engage in reform from their campus and community to the United Nations, representing the voices of youth from their countries and sharing their experiences fighting the drug war with their fellow SSDPers all over the world. [17]

SSDP’s international network has doubled in size through 2018 and expanded its structure to include regional fellowships to represent the specific needs of the Latin American, West African and European chapters.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Gardner, Dani (2019-10-31). "Activism in New Paltz: Students for Sensible Drug Policy / New Paltz Updates". The New Paltz Oracle. Retrieved 2025-09-11.
  2. 1 2 "Temple students form club for drug policy reform". The Temple News. 2023-10-22. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  3. 1 2 "Students for Sensible Drug Policy Working to End the War on Psychedelics". www.maps.org. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  4. ↑ "The Student Movement to End the Drug War Has a New Leader". www.filtermag.org. 29 March 2021. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  5. ↑ "Our Team". ssdp.org.
  6. ↑ "Types of Marijuana Policy Reform Laws". www.mpp.org. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  7. 1 2 "Opioid crisis, cannabis laws at forefront of Students for Sensible Drug Policy conference". www.redandblack.com. 30 October 2018. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  8. ↑ "Beyond Cannabis: Psychedelic Decriminalization and Social Justice" (PDF). www.law.lclark.edu.
  9. ↑ "The Effectiveness of Mandatory – Random Student Drug Testing" (PDF). www.ies.ed.gov. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  10. ↑ "Students Rally for 'Sensible' Drug Policy". www.thelantern.com. 18 November 2001. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
  11. ↑ "Special Session of the General Assembly UNGASS 2016". www.unodc.org. Archived from the original on 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2021-12-28.
  12. ↑ "SSDP Support. Don't Punish Global Day of Action". Talking Drugs. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
  13. ↑ "Decriminalize Nature and Students for Sensible Drug Policy Create a Community Healing Alliance". www.hightimes.com. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  14. ↑ Beck, J. (1998). "100 years of "just say no" versus "just say know". Reevaluating drug education goals for the coming century". Evaluation Review. 22 (1): 15–45. doi:10.1177/0193841X9802200102. PMID   10183299. S2CID   25765373.
  15. ↑ "Students 'just say know' to drugs". www.theithacan.org. November 2012. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  16. ↑ Brauner, Brooklyn (2023-02-08). "Students for Sensible Drug Policy at Yale promotes spiking prevention product campus-wide". Yale Daily News. Retrieved 2025-11-25.
  17. ↑ "Students for Sensible Drug Policy Announces $50,000 Match Campaign". www.globalnewswire.com (Press release). 14 December 2018. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
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