NEW TUFTS CHAPTER AIMING TO SPARK DIALOGUE ON DRUG POLICY

A Tufts chapter of the international organization Students for
Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), which formed last semester and is
holding its first event tonight, aims to raise a debate on the
nation's drug policies and hopes to stoke support for changes to how
drug use is perceived and prosecuted at the university, state and
even national level.

SSDP provides a forum for students seeking to initiate discussion on
drug abuse and propose changes to their community's existing drug policies.

SSDP at Tufts, like chapters at other schools, will encourage
discussion of both national and state drug issues. It will also
address concerns directly affecting the Tufts community, according to
Tufts SSDP co-President Alex Baskin, a sophomore.

Senior Greg Beach, policy director for Tufts' SSDP chapter, hopes
that SSDP will eventually become a strong voice on campus to promote
dialogue against drug abuse and raise issues regarding the
decriminalization of certain drugs.

"A college campus is where a lot of experimentation and discussion
goes on about drugs, and I'd like to take that enthusiasm and use it
in a more productive societal way," Beach said. "To me, ending the
war on drugs is one of the biggest issues of social justice that
should be more legitimized."

Baskin became interested in starting the group after he noticed a
lack of discussion at Tufts about how the university handles drug infractions.

"It's no secret that Tufts has a dangerous drinking culture," Baskin
said. "Every weekend, we find out about five or 10 kids that get in
the hospital for drinking. ... There's far fewer kids who have to go
to the hospital on a weekly basis for smoking pot."

Tufts' Alcohol and Drug Policy lists both public possession and use
of "Illegal Class D Substances (marijuana)" as Level A offenses,
along with the underage consumption or possession of alcohol and
drinking in public spaces.

The policy states that the immediate consequence of a first Level A
offense violation is placement on Disciplinary Probation One (pro-one).

SSDP plans to submit a petition to the Tufts Community Union (TCU)
Senate suggesting changes in how the university handles
marijuana-related infractions, according Baskin.

SSDP, Baskin believes, can provide a forum to better educate students
about drug use and abuse.

"We want to get a dialogue going about that -- what are the
differences between what's in marijuana and alcohol, and how does one
affect the other, and how can we deal with the drinking culture at
Tufts in a way that will actually lead to solutions," Baskin said.

One of the main goals of the Tufts' SSDP chapter is to frame drug use
as a public health issue instead of a criminal one, said the other
co-President Matt Kennedy, a sophomore.

"We want to deter the stigma that goes with drug use," Kennedy said.
"SSDP does not condone drug use, but it also doesn't judge you if you
do, so it's completely neutral."

Basking said that the group plans to spread awareness of
Massachusetts' law decriminalizing the personal use of small amounts
of marijuana in January 2009, making the possession of an ounce or
less of the drug a civil rather than criminal offense, punishable by fine.

"It's not a crime, so there's no reason for Tufts to pretend that it
is," Baskin said. "Right now, if you're caught smoking pot in your
room, it's the exact same penalty as if you're caught underage
drinking, which really makes no sense -- one is a crime, and one is
not a crime."

The group started meeting last semester, though it has not yet
received full recognition from the TCU Judiciary, according to Baskin.

SSDP at Tufts plans to hold events on campus that educate students
about the role of drugs in society and the inadequacies of the U.S.
government's policy on drugs, Kennedy said.

The group tonight will host its first event, featuring Jack Cole, a
former police officer and the co-founder of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition, an organization composed of current and former law
enforcement workers who propose changes to the nation's drug policies.

Cole will share with attendees the reasoning behind his belief that
the government's "war on drugs" is ineffective.

"He found that there's no point in locking people up for harmless
acts, that our prison system is completely bursting at the seams and
that there's no reason that we're wasting time, money and space on
people that harm no one but themselves," Baskin said.

Beach hopes to expand the efforts Tufts' SSDP beyond Tufts.

"I would like to develop a political organization that can work on
local levels and state levels, like pushing for a legalization of
cannabis in 2012 in Massachusetts on the state ballot, as well as
making it more of something that people think about and talk about."