Top 10 Schools Leading Marijuana Petition Drive

Students across the country hit the ground running this fall semester, collecting hundreds of petition signatures to legalize marijuana. One month ago, we launched the Just Say Now Campus Challenge for our chapters to compete against each other to see who can gather the most signatures. Through this competition, over 150 SSDP chapters are competing for prizes such as hemp t-shirts, flip video cameras, and other Just Say Now merchandise.

Let's take a look at which schools are leading the pack...*

1. Northern Virginia Community College: 423
   Woodbridge, VA
2. University of Cincinnati: 255
   Cincinnati, OH
3. West Virginia University: 214
   Morgantown, WV
4. Albert Einstein High School: 142
   Silver Spring, MD
5. University of Connecticut: 114
   Storrs, CT
6. SUNY Canton: 108
   Canton, NY
7. University of Utah: 105
   Salt Lake City, UT
8. University of New Mexico: 58
   Albuquerque, NM
9. University of Maryland: 45
   College Park, MD
10. Seton Hill University: 33
    Greensburg, PA

* as of noon EST 9/14/10. Congratulations to members of these 10 SSDP chapters on your hard work. If your school hasn't gotten the ball rolling on campus yet, don't worry it's certainly not too late! All of our chapters should have received their Just Say Now campaign materials in the mail, so get out there and show us what you can do! And as always, feel free to contact your regional outreach director for advice or with questions.

As students head back to school this fall semester, and as we get closer to Election Day, I know the competition will only grow more and more intense, so stay tuned. To learn more about the Just Say Now Campus Challenge visit this page.

Top 20 Schools for Drug Policy Activism 2010

On newsstands this week, the October issue of High Times magazine features the Top 20 Institutions of Higher Education, their "annual list of schools and universities for students committed to marijuana activism". Compiled by SSDP staff members, this list reflects our chapters who have done outstanding work to reform marijuana and other drug policies at their schools during the 2009-2010 school year. Make sure to pick up a copy to read the full article with details on the amazing work these chapters did over the past year to earn this distinction.

1. Ithaca College Ithaca, NY
2. University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT
3. Kent State University Kent, OH
4. Northern Virginia Community College Woodbridge, VA
5. University of Iowa Iowa City, IA
6. Front Range Community College Boulder, CO
7. University of Maryland College Park, MD
8. University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR
9. West Virginia University Morgantown, WV
10. University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
11. University of Texas El Paso, TX
12. Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL
13. Black Hills State University Spearfish, SD
14. Brown University Providence, RI
15. Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA
16. University of Miami Miami, FL
17. San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA
18. SUNY New Paltz New Paltz, NY
19. Reed College Portland, OR
20. Mills College Oakland, CA

Congratulations to all SSDP chapter members for your outstanding work advancing the student movement to end the war on drugs!

Stay tuned for updates from all of our 132 active chapters as they begin the 2010-2011 school year this month through our Action Alert list, Facebook Page & Cause, and Twitter.

Chapter members: check out this page to learn about how your chapter's work can be featured in High Times.