Cannabis in the Commonwealth

Like many states, Virginia arrests more people for marijuana than all other illicit drugs combined. In fact, almost 20,000 people were arrested in 2008 alone. Recently, members of Virginia Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapters collaborated with drug policy reformers across the state to organize a statewide lobbying day in support of marijuana decriminalization. If passed, VA HB 1443 would have decriminalized simple possession of marijuana from a criminal misdemeanor to a $500 civil fine. With help from Marijuana Policy Project, Virginians Against Drug Violence, and Virginia NORML, VA SSDPers were able to gather widespread constituent support through a collaborative grassroots campaign.


On January 17th, SSDP at VCU and SSDP at NoVA convened chapter members to meet with their state delegates, lobbying in favor of marijuana decriminalization. SSDP’s delegation then met with several delegates who comprised the referring committee, those of House Courts and Justice. Following the lobbying, drug policy reformers packed the hearing and awaited the outcome of the bill. Del. Harvey Morgan (VA-R), the bill’s chief sponsor, said that he was not advocating marijuana use “at all,” but rather that if a person is arrested -“even if it’s set aside” by the first offender law in Virginia - the arrest and possible conviction are “always on your record as an arrest for a drug offense.” Because of this, he said, “anyone who has that on a record finds that it is an absolute barrier to employment for a commercial driver’s license, to work in a health care profession, and to be a teacher.” This is especially damaging in fields that require the use of background information for security purposes. Morgan stated, “they do a background check and up pops a drug offense and they just cannot hire you.”


After his comments about the legislation, Morgan presented three witnesses to testify in its support, including Richard Kennedy, PhD., a retired CIA analyst. The hearing continued with more than a dozen members of the public uniformly testifying in favor of the bill in front of the House committee. This group included two members of SSDP at Virginia Commonwealth University, Brooke Napier and Devon Tackels, and one member from SSDP Northern Virginia Community College, Mike Cavender. Nobody spoke out against the legislation, and Del. Morgan made note that he had overwhelming support from constituents.


Despite the harm of marijuana prohibition to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and potential benefits of decriminalization, committee leaders were not open to changing the current policy. Committee members seemed out of touch with constituents and afraid to publicly support the legislation. In the end, the committee chose to PBI, or pass the bill indefinitely for the session. Although we are disappointed with the outcome, we understand that marijuana reform does not happen overnight. Virginia drug policy reformers must continue to engage in state’s delegates education, and advise them of the crucial nature of this legislation for the future of our state.  However, despite our loss this round, VA SSDP reaffirms its power to reform marijuana policies in the Commonwealth. We will not stop until we meet this objective, and at this juncture in our movement we require more students to lobby all state delegates, in Virginia and other states where marijuana reform looks likely.

Meet the leaders of our 3 newest chapters

Announcing the latest additions to SSDP's chapter network; we're proud to add the following three new chapters to the map!

• Daytona State College - Daytona Beach, FL (Southern Region)
  When Patrick Moo called our office for the first time at the beginning of December, he was already ahead of the game. He was already in the process of starting a chapter at Daytona, had recruited several interested students and had gained the support of a faculty member! The chapter has already begun collecting petitions to get medical marijuana on the Florida ballot in 2012.
  

• Rowan University - Glassboro, NJ (Northeast Region)
  Phil Simmons discovered us when he was calling California voters to support Proposition 19 using Just Say Now's phonebank tool, and decided to establish a chapter at Rowan. In an effort to begin building coalitions on campus, he has reached out to several other school clubs who are willing to give the chapter a few minutes to speak about SSDP at the beginning of their meetings. Now that they've gained official recognition this week, Rowan SSDP has hit the ground running and have several events and campaigns lined up for the semester.
  

• Radford University - Radford, VA (Mid-Atlantic Region)
  Dave Campanella informally stumbled across an SSDP chapter about a year ago at West Virginia University where he was an undergraduate. Last fall he begun his time at Radford pursuing a masters degree in criminal justice, and is writing his thesis on drug policy issues. Andrew Fernandez heard about SSDP from his brother who currently leads our George Mason University chapter! As a former RA on campus, he knows that Radford is one of those "call the cops when you smell the tinest amount of marijuana" type of schools, so the chapter will be bringing attention to the issue.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is active across the United States with official chapters at over 150 high schools, colleges, universities, graduate & law schools. Visit our website to join or start one at your school today, and to access our activist resources including our comprehensive Student Organizing Manual.

SSDP's Phonebanking Parties begin at Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference

Over 60 people gathered in Richmond, VA last weekend at SSDP’s 1st Annual Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference hosted by our chapter at Virginia Commonwealth University. If you weren't able to make it, check out some photos and videos of the conference.

We kicked off the event on Friday with a Phonebanking Pizza Party, where over a dozen students generated around 200 calls to California voters about marijuana legalization using Just Say Now’s Virtual Phonebank!

Heather Ness, a linguistics major at the University of Maryland where she serves as the treasurer for our UMD SSDP chapter, commented about her experience at the party saying: “It was so easy and fun! Once one or two people broke the ice, everyone started calling. Because we’re calling young voters, it’s like having a conversation with a peer.”

Mike Liszewski, SSDP board member and President/Founder of the UDC School of Law SSDP chapter asked the audience during the conference, “Who here wishes they could vote in the California election this November 2nd so they could vote yes on Proposition 19?”

Almost every hand went up.

“This is the closest thing you can do next to voting that will directly impact the outcome of this groundbreaking initiative that will tax and regulate the responsible adult use of marijuana.”

Visit ssdp.org/pizzaparty to host your own phonebanking party. You can start making calls on your own anytime at JustSayNow.com

Teachers Suspended for Showing Flex Your Rights Video

Flex Your Rights, founded to educate the public about constitutional rights during police encounters, has been embraced by both the police and the public. Every citizen should understand their basic Bill of Rights protections, so it's completely understandable why two high school teachers in Virginia decided to show "BUSTED: A Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters" to their 12th grade government classes. Unfortunately, the two Norview High School teachers were put on leave this week after a parent complained that they showed a video and distributed handouts that gave advice on how to deal with police if stopped.

"She came home recently and said, 'You wont believe what we are learning in Government. They are teaching us how to hide out drugs,'" the parent recounted.

The message and intent of the teachers has been clearly misinterpreted. In each scene of BUSTED, it is explains how legal rights apply to police searches of vehicles, homes, or individuals and how people can cite those rights during police encounters. As the commentator on the video states:

"Whether or not you break the law, this video is designed to explain what the law is and how you can legally and properly assert your constitutional rights through even the most stressful police encounters."

As we know, millions of these encounters occur each year in America. Young people, who are targets in many of these encounters, deserve to be educated in how to handle these situations. People who not only understand their rights, but also know how to apply them are less likely to make regrettable decisions, reducing the likelihood of negative outcomes for both individuals and officers of the law. Flex Your Rights had this to say:

"Unfortunately, as we work to provide this important public service, we do sometimes receive criticism from individuals who misinterpret our discussion of constitutional rights as an endorsement of breaking the law. It's not. We sometimes depict and discuss criminal activity in our materials because there are important legal lessons that are difficult to illustrate without it. Police are trained both to fight crime and uphold the constitution, and there are numerous instances in which these interests come into conflict with one another. Depicting such scenarios makes our work realistic, but should not make it controversial."

Please click here to share your concerns with the school administration.