I just landed in Chicago Midway airport, and am now sitting in the food court, munching on some french fries, and mentally preparing for what will be one of the most important weekends in the history of drug policy reform. Today, at 4pm, SSDP leaders from across the country will convene in Chicago and commence the 2006 Strategic Planning Retreat. Simply put, the purpose of this retreat is to formulate a strategic plan for the organization as we move forward throughout the coming years. I am honored to be a part of this event and could not ask for a better group of activists to take on this endeavor with me.
SSDP is at a crucial turning point. Having been founded by a few ambitious college students just eight years ago, we have grown into an expansive, well-recognized, and highly effective organization. We have recently seen a significant victory in the form of partial repeal of the HEA Drug Provision. We are filing two lawsuits against the government, one of which has been endorsed by the New York Times. And SSDPers around the country are assessing the current drug policies on their campuses, and formulating campaigns to enact sensible drug policies close to home.
This weekend, we will take this momentum, whittle it to a point, and over the coming years, drive it deep into the heart of the Drug War. An ambitious goal, to be sure. But if there's anyone that can do it, it's the DARE Generation.
2 comments:
good luck. just remember, you have decades of anti-drug war failure behind you, lazyness, and indifference behind you. Your chances of making a any difference at all are remote, but it's worth a shot.
As someone who's seen the ups-and-downs of drug law reform over 3 decades, I concur with jackl.
The past 10 years have seen, relatively speaking compared with previous decades, enormous growth in this field...and largely for the reason behind this very Website.
The DrugWarriors thought they could achieve their goal of 'social engineering' (funny how they always accused liberals of that particular vice, isn't it?) by attacking the children of the middle class with Souder's Law...and now they've ticked off thousands of middle class families.
The DrugWarriors sought to whup up on a generation of students they thought were soft easy targets whom the DrugWarriors believed were safely, politically nullified...and have created activists, instead. The recent watering down of Souder's Law is a direct result of SSDP's efforts.
They've already proven their efficacy; it only remains to be seen as to how far they can go.
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