When war fails, diplomacy begins.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy is an international grassroots network of students that seeks to end the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs but do not harm others
SSDP calls for an end to the financially draining “War on Drugs,” which has been found to be ineffectual at limiting the accessibility and consumption of illegal drugs and instead promotes heinous acts of violence and skyrocketing rates of imprisonment.
The organization works toward these goals through political activism, lobbying and empowering students to participate in the political process.
Any student on any campus can start a chapter of SSDP. The PSU chapter has been officially recognized and active since the start of this term. You may have seen them in the South Park Blocks fundraising with a “Baked Sale” (those were completely normal brownies, by the way) or during their “Inaugural Humans vs. Zombies Game” on Halloween.
While each chapter of SSDP is essentially autonomous and focuses on its own community’s most pressing issues, the overall message remains the same: the extreme prohibition and criminalization of drug use does more harm than good, and the current government-funded methods of prevention and awareness of drug abuse are completely ineffective.
It’s no secret that the United States imprisons a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country and that a significant amount of those prisoners are held on non-violent drug convictions. There are currently more than two million people in U.S. prisons or jails, and approximately one quarter of them were convicted on drug offenses.
As of 2006, over $68 billion was being spent annually on corrections facilities. Perhaps if we didn’t incarcerate so many drug offenders, the country would have more money to spend on things like education, which receives budget cuts year after year.
It is true that there is violence associated with drug trafficking, but SSDP maintains that this stems directly from the illegality of the activity. They draw parallels between the “Noble Experiment” of the early 20th century with the prohibition of alcohol (which failed) and the “War on Drugs” of today.
Alcohol prohibition gave rise to gangsters, organized crime and a soaring rate of violent offenses. Similarly today, the illegal drug trade funds many criminal organizations and gang wars, which also claim many innocent lives, take place over sale territory. In Mexico, cartel violence is reaching epidemic proportions, with innocent people being killed for refusing to assist in trafficking marijuana across the border into the U.S.
SSDP views the legalization and government regulation of marijuana as a good first step toward sensible drug policies at the federal level. This would cut down the demand for illegal trafficking (reducing the number of associated violent crimes), and the sales could then be taxed as a source of revenue. Also, store employees can be required to check IDs, while your neighborhood drug dealer probably doesn’t.
Overall, SSDP would like to see instances of drug abuse become issues of health rather than issues of criminality. “We don’t send alcoholics to prison,” says Romain Bonilla, head of the PSU chapter of SSDP. “We send them to counseling. So why should we throw a drug user in jail for essentially the same thing?”
Included in this focus on health is a criticism of the current government-funded ad campaign against drug use, the so-called “just say no” commercials. Since their inception in 1998, numerous scientific studies have shown the inefficacy of government anti-drug ads. Some even report that the ads may actually increase pro-drug attitudes in teenagers, much in the way that abstinence-only programs can lead to an increase in teen pregnancy.
Young people would rather know the truth about the effects of drugs (both illegal and legal) and their real risks, but instead they are presented with obvious exaggerations and political propaganda. The U.S. government was widely criticized in 2002 for airing ads during the Super Bowl linking drug use to terrorism.
Things like this only serve to breed 1feelings of resentment in teenagers toward anything the government might have to say on the issue. SSDP instead supports educational ads that give facts about drug use with no apparent political agenda behind them.
There is a pervasive stereotype of “legalizers” as stoners who simply wish to do drugs without fear of punishment. That is certainly not the case with SSDP. Members are concerned with human rights and the welfare and safety of all people. SSDP seeks to end the annual wasting of billions of taxpayer dollars on the “War on Drugs,” and to instead direct the money to effective public programs that desperately require funding.
While the organization officially neither condones nor condemns drug use, it respects the rights of individuals to make decisions about their own health and well-being, and encourages effective education and counseling for those who need it. SSDP seems to be on to something.
So take heed, PSU. This diplomacy has begun.