LOOKING FOR A SENSIBLE DRUG POLICY

Students for Sensible Drug Policy," or SSDP for short, is an
organization comprised of student-run chapters at more than 100
colleges and universities around the country. Its goal is to achieve
"a just and compassionate society where drug abuse is treated as a
health issue instead of a criminal justice issue." They work towards
this goal by encouraging "young people to participate in the
political process, pushing for sensible policies . . . while fighting
back against counterproductive drug war policies." Recently, the
outreach director of the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, Stacia
Cosner, contacted me in regard to a column I wrote a few weeks ago
about medicinal marijuana. She wanted to know if anyone would be
interested in starting an SSDP chapter at N.C. State. I told her that
I'm sure there are students here who would be interested and that an
SSDP chapter would be beneficial to students at State - I'm hopeful
I'll be able to find enough students w! ho agree with me.

There is an obvious need for massive reform of our nation's drug
policies. These policies, known as the "War on Drugs," were intended
to curtail drug use in America. However, since the "war" started,
drug use has increased - along with our nation's prison population.
Currently, almost 60 percent of all inmates held in federal
penitentiaries are nonviolent drug offenders. This, coupled with the
fact that drug use continues to increase, suggests that the "War on
Drugs" is at best ineffective, and at worst has lead to the wrongful
imprisonment of millions of Americans.

A common assumption about the "War on Drugs" is that it mainly
targets black market smugglers and "drug lords." However, according
to Department of Justice statistics from 2008, 1,702,537 were people
arrested for drugs - 847,863 were for marijuana - and out of that
number 754,224 were arrested for simple possession alone. A majority
of the people arrested for drugs other than marijuana were also
arrested for simple possession.

Also, the complete prohibition of drugs, especially marijuana, has
made black market smuggling incredibly profitable. So, our current
drug policies seem to inadvertently benefit the criminal elements
that stand to make a serious profit from drug trafficking (even
though they occasionally get busted), while also inadvertently
targeting drug consumers. The prohibition wastes valuable police
resources on nonviolent drug users, instead of allocating them toward
serious criminals.

Opening an SSDP chapter at the University would give students who
believe these policies are unfair an opportunity to effectively voice
their dissatisfaction. It would provide them with an efficient
vehicle for voicing their views and a network of support that spans
the nation. Most importantly, it would give students a chance to
influence our nation's policies towards drug use. With enough
diligence and support from groups such as "Students for Sensible Drug
Policy," the citizens of this nation can reverse the course of the
failed War on Drugs, and push for fairer legislation that doesn't
treat nonviolent drug users as criminals.

Anyone who is interested in learning more about "Students for
Sensible Drug Policy" can go to its Web site at
http://ssdp.org/index.php. Also, anyone who is interested in working
with me to start an SSDP chapter can reach me by e-mail at
namiano@ncsu.edu. I believe this could be a great thing for our
school, and I hope I can find some support from fellow students.