SSDP Succeeds in 2006, but Needs Your Help for 2007
With a staff of only four and a tiny budget we have been able to accomplish more than many organizations twice our size. Here’s just a sampling of some of SSDP’s accomplishments in 2006:
*Scaling Back the HEA Aid Elimination Penalty*
After eight years of lobbying and hard work, SSDP and our coalition partners convinced Congress to scale back the HEA Aid Elimination Penalty, the law that has denied college financial aid to nearly 200,000 students with drug convictions. Now, because of SSDP’s efforts, the law now no longer applies to students with past convictions, allowing tens of thousands of students to return to school in 2007. Meanwhile, we launched a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the penalty. While a judge wrongly dismissed the lawsuit, it put the impetus back on Congress to fully repeal the penalty in the coming year.
*SSDP Conference*
The 2006 SSDP International Conference was the largest and most successful SSDP conference to date. Over 300 students from over 70 campuses came to Washington, DC to learn firsthand about the impact the War on Drugs has on our society, and gain valuable activist skills training to help them become better advocates for reform. They heard from distinguished speakers like MSNBC’s Bill Press, The Chicago Tribune’s Clarence Page, and former DNC Press Secretary Terry Michael, among others. The students also participated in a Congressional Lobby Day, where they received valuable lobby training and met with staffers for more than 80 members of Congress.
*Freedom of Information Act Lawsuit*
When the Department of Education illegally tried to charge SSDP over $4,000 to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request, we sued the government and won. Not only did we receive the requested data, we sent a message to the federal government that they can not bully small non-profits with outlandish fees for information requests simply because they disagree with the organization’s message. We used the data obtained in our FOIA lawsuit to author a report detailing the state-by-state breakdown of the 200,000 students denied aid due to a drug conviction. This report was covered in hundreds of local and campus newspapers nationwide, and was cited by the Congressional Research Service.
*Chapter Growth*
2006 was a year of unprecedented growth for SSDP chapters across North America. Over the course of the year the number of SSDP chapters more than doubled to nearly 100 across North America, representing the largest expansion of SSDP chapters since the organization was founded. For the first time, SSDP expanded beyond the United States into Canada, where there are already ten chapters of the newly formed Canada Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
*Campus Change Campaign*
Earlier this year we officially launched the Campus Change Campaign, designed to help SSDP activists get rid of punitive drug policies on their campuses. Over the course of the year many SSDP chapters ran highly successful campaigns:
* The University of Maine at Farmington SSDP chapter convinced the administration to stop evicting students from university housing for first time marijuana possession offenses.
* Chapters at the University of Maryland and Florida State University ran successful campus voter initiatives calling on their schools to lower penalties for marijuana to equal those for underage drinking.
* Truman State University SSDP ran a successful campus voter initiative that asked the administration to stop notifying parents when adult students are caught with drugs on campus.
* The University of Georgia and University of Connecticut SSDP chapters are actively working to enact lifesaving medical amnesty programs to make sure students aren’t punished when they call campus security to help a friend who is overdosing on drugs or alcohol.
SSDP chapters are also changing punitive drug policies at the state level. In Rhode Island, two SSDP chapters teamed up to form a coalition that helped secure passage of a bill making Rhode Island the 11th medical marijuana state. The Brown University SSDP chapter also played an integral role in passing the Right to Vote constitutional amendment, which successfully restored voting rights for convicted felons in Rhode Island who have been released from prison.
*SSDP in the Media*
SSDP was featured prominently in countless national news outlets including Fox News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Congressional Quarterly, The Nation, Slate.com, National Public Radio, and Court TV Radio, as well as in hundreds of campus and local papers.
*SSDP in 2007*
While 2006 was an unqualified success for SSDP, we hope to accomplish much more in 2007. With your help, we can finally restore financial aid to students with drug convictions, give our activists the training they need to change harmful campus drug policies, and continue to grow our network of student activists across North America. Here are just a few of our goals for the coming year:
*Fully Repeal the HEA Aid Elimination Penalty*
We are optimistic that 2007 will be the year when we finally repeal the HEA Aid Elimination Penalty once and for all. In 2006 we secured 71 House Democratic co-sponsors of a bill to repeal the penalty. With the leadership change in Congress we are confident that we can move the bill forward, possibly to the floor of the House. More importantly, with the entire Higher Education Act due to be reauthorized in early 2007, we are presented with arguably our best chance to repeal the penalty since it was enacted. We are confident that one of our allies in the Congress will introduce an amendment to the Higher Education Act that would strike the penalty from the larger act, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that it has the votes to pass.
*Push Back Against Student Drug Testing*
We will turn up the pressure on Congress to stop providing funding for public schools to implement invasive, expensive, and ineffective random student drug testing. In particular, we plan to ask legislators to divert this funding to programs that are proven to keep kids from abusing drugs, such as youthful reentry programs.
*Eliminate the ONDCP National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign*
When the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s budget is debated this year, we will pressure Congress to stop funding the anti-drug propaganda advertisements. These offensive ads have already cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars and have been proven not to work by the government’s own studies.
*Expand the Campus Change Campaign*
We expect the second year of the Campus Change Campaign to be filled with success. Many of our chapters spent 2006 carefully planning campaigns to change harmful campus drug policies, and we look forward to providing them with the resources and support needed to see these efforts through to success. We hope to see dozens of chapters working on campaigns to lower penalties for marijuana possession on campus, stop evicting students from university housing for drug possession, cease bringing local police on campus to arrest students caught with small amounts of drugs, and enact medical amnesty policies that will save the lives of thousands of students nationwide.
*Expand Chapter Growth*
In order to keep up with the growing number of new chapter requests we receive each week, we hope to hire a new field organizer to work directly with our field director. This person will be tasked with helping students through the process of setting up chapters, and reaching out to students on campuses where we currently have no representation. Meanwhile, we expect Canada SSDP to become officially recognized as a non-profit organization by the Canadian government this year, with a national office to open in Ottawa by next summer.
*Please Help SSDP Reach Our Goals in 2007*
None of these goals can be achieved without continued financial support from people who share our concern about the Drug War’s unwarranted attacks on young people. Won’t you consider making a generous contribution to SSDP as part of your year-end giving by visiting http://www.ssdp.org/donate today? Your support will help us grow our national staff and provide crucial resources to SSDP chapters working to make changes on their campuses and in their communities.
For nearly nine years, Students for Sensible Drug Policy has been the leading voice for young people who are determined to fight back against a Drug War that for too long has been waged in our names. We will continue to work against harmful laws and policies that hurt our generation, while training the next generation of drug policy reformers and activists. I hope you will help us continue to expand our work by making a generous contribution today at http://www.ssdp.org/donate
Thank you for all of your support of SSDP.
Sincerely,
Kris Krane
Executive Director
P.S. Looking for last-minute holiday gifts? Check out SSDP's online store at http://www.ssdp.org/store
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