The Elm Student Newspaper
SSDP club initiated
Faith Hayden
SSDP chapter founder Robyn Namendorf.
Jonas Johnson, Elm photographer
Recently the SGA approved a chapter of the SSDP, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, as an official organization on campus, providing it with $50 in funding.
"The purpose of this organization is to make the general public more informed about laws and policies associated with illicit drugs," explained sophomore Robyn Namendorf, the founder of SSDP on campus. "The ultimate goal of the organization is to educate the campus and eventually the entire community about drug use, its myths and reality, and the laws and policies that are associated with it."
In addition to holding bi-monthly meetings, SSDP plans on hosting lectures, debates, an information table, and theme weeks where the consequences of certain forms of drug use will be explained.
"The goal of SSDP is not to preach the harms or praises of drug use, only to provide unbiased information from which the individual can draw their own conclusions," said Namendorf. "SSDP encourages individuals to voice their dissatisfaction with current drug policies, as long as they are willing to work to correct them."
Freshman Noah Cook said he joined SSDP "because I believe it is incredibly stupid that in this free, civilized country, it is perfectly legal to walk on the street in possession of a handgun, but not in possession of marijuana." He added, "We see, on TV, commercials for alcohol interspersed with commercials telling us to just say no to marijuana, although 100,000 people die every year from legal alcohol, but zero die from marijuana, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, and peyote. Yet, we spend billions of dollars to keep the latter illegal."
Namendorf heard about SSDP from a high school friend who was very active in an SSDP chapter at George Washington University. "He got me interested in starting a chapter here on WC's campus to broaden the views of the student body as well as the views of the faculty," commented Namendorf. "I [then] got in contact with the headquarters of SSDP and they helped me through the process of organizing the chapter."
The main issue that SSDP will be dealing with is making sure that the punishments for illegal drug use and distribution are just. An example of this would be the petitioning against the "Higher Education Act" which was passed in 1998. According to Namendorf, this act states that any individual, minor or legal, convicted of a drug offense is not eligible for financial aid.
"This [act] may seem fair until you look at the larger issue," stated Namendorf. "[However,] this restriction is not placed on any other offender, including violent offenders, such as murderers or rapists.
[Also,] logically speaking, the power to deny financial aid to a drug offender should lie in the hands of the admitting school, as it does for other law offenders."Although the purpose of SSDP may appear to be minor to some students, Namendorf disagrees: "The land we live in is a democracy, and as a result of that, everyone is meant to have a voice. If we are unhappy about current drug policy, then we cannot sit around and complain about it- it accomplishes nothing."
Namendorf refers to SSDP as a "grassroots effort working towards progressive change in our government."
Some accomplishments that such "grassroots" organizations have to their credit are the desegregation of the 1960s and the opposition to the Vietnam War.
"If our country never allowed the revolutionaries that fronted these causes to voice their opinions," said Namendorf, "imagine where our country would be now."
SSDP has approximately 80 chapters and 700 members nationwide. Currently, the organization has over 50 people from the WC community involved.
"We must learn to become involved citizens if we expect to be happy with our country," commented Namendorf. "We as young adults now hold the power in our hands as the next generation coming into control."
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