Have you talked to your parents about Joyce Nalepka?

"Students for Sensible Drug Policy is a militant fringe of the drug legalization movement. As parents, we would treat membership in SSDP as firmly as we would treat drug use. Stop the behavior and resign from the group or pay your own tuition."

-Joyce Nalepka,
Professional Lunatic

From a 2002 essay/rant entitled "Applaud Souder's efforts to fight illegal drug use", which oddly enough, I just found out about.

Now, what parent would punish their kid for being involved in SSDP when they could get this cool Proud SSDP Parent merchandise??

Czar's Reefer Madness.

Check out this great op-ed in the NY Times by John Tierny (MAPINC) about the Bush Administration's pointless obsession with marijuana and how the Netherlands actually manages to have less drug users and focus on real crime. Here are some snips from the letter:

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The Dutch generally use drugs less than Americans do, according to national surveys in both countries ( and these surveys might understate Americans' drug usage, since respondents are less likely to admit illegal behavior ). More Americans than Dutch reported having tried marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Among teenagers who'd tried marijuana, Americans were more likely to be regular users.

"Drug policy is irrelevant," says Cohen, the former director of the Center for Drug Research at the University of Amsterdam. It's quite logical, he says, to theorize that outlawing drugs would have an impact, but experience shows otherwise, both in America and in some European countries with stricter laws than the Netherlands but no less drug use.

"Prohibition does not reduce drug use, but it does have other impacts," [Cohen] says. "It takes up an enormous amount of police time and generates large possibilities for criminal income."

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I think John Walters is having a bad week.

News flash: Gov't anti-drug ads don't work

Actually, we already knew that. But this time, it's been confirmed by the Government Accountability Office (Congress's auditing arm). Oh, wait...the GAO has already criticized the Drug Czar's media campaign in the past? Damn, I guess this isn't news afterall. But SSDP is still putting out a press release on Monday to make sure the media knows that the drug warriors are spending our hard-earned tax dollars on ads that not only are ineffective, but cause more youth drug use.

In the meantime, have a looksee at this Associated Press piece on the new GAO report.

The Government Accountability Office based its recommendation on its review of an independent evaluation of the media campaign by Westat Inc.

The government has spent about $1.2 billion since 1998 on scores of television, print and radio ads designed to discourage drug use among youth. The ads also describe parents as the anti-drug. President Bush requested another $120 million for next year.

Westat found the ads had no "significant favorable effects" in deterring children from trying marijuana or in getting them to stop. Rather, it found that more 12 1/2- to 13-year-olds and girls were trying the drug after seeing the ads, the GAO said.

So the government's propaganda ads actually increase teen drug use? That's of no consequence to Drug Czar John Walters.

"We have dealt with criticism of the campaign from adversaries, including those who advocate the legalization of drugs," he said.

Suuuuure, Johnny. The White House Office of Management and Budget, the Republican Study Committee, and researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (who have all criticized the ads as ineffective) must all support drug legalization, right?

Simple Reminder that Prohibition Doesn't Work.

I went to the package store last week to get a six-pack of my favorite micro-brew, Newport Storm, and when asked to show my I.D. , I realized I didn't have it on me. I even happen to know the cashier at this store, but she still had to say:

"I'm sorry, but without an I.D. we can't sell this to you."

Simple and efficient way to keep drugs out of the hands of "children". But that is clearly not what the drug warriors are concerned with. If alcohol were illegal, I would have no trouble getting it without proof of age. It just might be lesser quality and more dangerous.

Snakes: The Muthaf*ckin Anti-Drug

Check out this video we made, which pokes fun at our favorite anti-drug commercials (with a little help from Sam L. Jackson)...


I guess joining the mile "high" club isn't as harmless as we thought!

With chapters on over 75 campuses across the country, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) works on changing Drug War policies at the local, state, and federal levels. When feeling especially creative, we sometimes make videos that highlight the ridiculousness of the government's anti-drug propaganda.

Enter your e-mail address to receive timely and important news and action alerts and join the thousands of students, alumni, and supporters staying in touch with SSDP.

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And click here to find out how you can help us cut the multi-million dollar budget for the government's anti-drug media campaign, whose ads are no less ridiculous than the one you just saw.

Cops Say Legalize Drugs

Want to find out why? Check out the 13 1/2 minute video from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) hosted on SSDP's MySpace page (it's the second of three videos on the left side of the page).

Thanks to Radley at The Agitator for agitating bloggers like us to get as many people as possible to watch this powerful and concise video indictment of the failed War on Drugs.

Check it out, and show your friends and family afterwards.

Oh yeah, and befriend SSDP on MySpace, whydoncha?

The ONDCP Almost Tells the Truth... Almost.

In one of the ONDCP's latest anti-marijuana television ads, the organization we know best for misinformation almost tells us the truth about marijuana. This ad actually pokes fun at many of the previous ad's the ONDCP has released concerning the plant.
The ad starts off by showing a young, "norml" looking teenager, admitting that he had smoked marijuana and "Nobody died, I didn't get into a car accident, and I didn't O.D. on heroin the next day. We sat on Pete's couch for eleven hours. What's gonna happen on Pete's couch? Nothing."
So is the ONDCP finally discrediting the already discredited gateway theory that John Walters relies so heavily on? Maybe they're ready to stop printing the car crash ad in major magazines throughout the country.
If the ad had been straight forward and explained that yes, maybe there are better things for youth to do instead of smoking marijuana they would have had an advertisement that may have earned some respect from America's youth. Instead, they used a condescending position and exaggerated stereotype that everyone who smokes marijuana sits on their friend's couch for eleven hours.
The ONDCP is still missing the big picture. Drug law reformers are not here to talk about whether marijuana is good or bad. We're here to say that maybe those kids that do choose to sit on the couch shouldn't be handcuffed and thrown into prison for doing so, that they should be eligible for financial aid, and that our tax dollars could go to better things.