By Regina Pearson
Photo by Utang Enyenihi
On Thursday, September 22, Salem’s chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) had their first meeting. Led by the organization’s president, Utang Enyenihi C’18, the meeting drew a sizable number of students; approximately twenty were in attendance. The club’s officials provided background information about SSDP and discussed their goals as a chapter for their first operational year. SSDP is club that discusses what the current drug policies are and how they are negatively impacting our society. In the past, SSDP chapters have hosted such events 420 “Pot” Brownie Day (drugs not included) where the members attach facts about the drug war to brownies and hand them out. Another event they host is called ‘Just Say Know’ where they inform the public about drugs and how they affect their users.
Nationally, SSDP is on 150+ campuses in the United States and in six other countries across the globe. Their mission statement reads: “Students for Sensible Drug Policy is an international grassroots network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, but who also know that the War on Drugs is failing our generation and our society.” They are committed to their grassroots origins, continuing chapter start-ups using the same methods to this day. While the campus organizations control the reigns of their club for the most part, there’s a countrywide support system that allows some guidance of how it ought to be run and some suggested events.
If you are interested in joining, you can contact Utang or Channy Jordan-Grier, the vice president, about getting involved at utang.enyenihi@salem.edu and channell.jordan@salem.edu respectively, and learn more about this organization at ssdp.org.
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