Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP)

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is an international grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, but who also see that ‘The War on Drugs’ is failing our generation and 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, whilst fighting back against counterproductive drug war policies, particularly those that directly affect students and youth.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy neither encourages nor condemns drug use.  Rather, they seek to reduce the harms caused by drug abuse and drug policies.  As young people, they strive towards a just and compassionate society where drug abuse is treated as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue.  The SSDP recognize that the very real harms of drug abuse are not adequately addressed by current policies and advocate measures that would more effectively help those who develop drug problems.  Yet they 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 the youth, the SSDP see it as their responsibility to stop this harmful war from being waged in their names.  As scholars they seek solutions to societys’ drug problems through focused research, honest dialogue, and informed debate, instead of unquestioned extremism, punishment and propaganda.

To find out more about The Students for Sensible Drug Policy USA please visit – www.ssdp.org and for their British colleagues – www.ssdp.org.uk. Alternatively you can find them and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.