DRUG CLUB FIGHTS BACK

Drug Club Fights Back

At the start of the spring semester, a new student group, the MTU chapter
of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy was formed. SSDP is a national
organization with chapters throughout the nation.

However, the MTU chapter is only the second such group in Michigan, along
with SSDP at the University of Michigan.

According to President Garrett Gibbons, SSDP at MTU was initiated due to
inspiration from the perspectives class "Creating the Drug Fiend: Drug
Policy in the United States," taught by Dr. Sean Clancy, who now serves as
the group's advisor.

Despite being new to the world of student organizations, SSDP has been
active throughout the semester. The group has held biweekly meetings, where
members receive updates on current drug policy issues and have the
opportunity to speak about some aspect of the drug policy which they
believe is relevant. Gibbons also added that SSDP members have had the
opportunity to voice their opinions through presentations during the meetings.

"Jon Woods gave an interesting presentation about cannabis and the
implications of unjust laws in the Bible. Dave Fenlon has presented
information at the meeting with regards to the Higher Education Act, which
blocks federal funding for students with minor drug convictions," Gibbons
explained.

Aside from these presentations, SSDP has also shown the film "Busted: A
Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters" and set up information
tables outside of the Wadsworth Cafeteria and during Spring Fling, where
the group setup hookahs with traditional mid-eastern shisha.

Despite this amount of activity, Gibbons said the group's main objective
has been gaining recognition and publicity. "As we are a new organization,
our main focus has been on gaining official recognition from the school and
publicizing our meetings and events," Gibbons said.

Despite taking on such as taboo topic as drug policy, Gibbons pointed out
that SSDP deals specifically with encouraging drug policy reform, taking no
stance on the issue of drug use.

"SSDP is specifically to encourage the reform of current drug policy. We do
not take any stance on drug use, other than the idea that one of the
greatest harms associated with drug use are the consequences of current
drug policy," Gibbons explained.

A specific focus of the group is the War on Drugs and the amount of money
it demands. "We feel that the War on Drugs has failed our nation and is a
battle that cannot be won. Humans have used mind-altering substances since
the beginning of recorded history, no matter how much money we pump into a
war on our soil against our citizens, this will not change," Gibbons said.

Gibbons also noted that SSDP does not offer any alternatives to the current
drug policy, but instead works to simply bring out what ideas students may
have on the subject. "Everyone has their own ideas on how drug use should
be dealt with in this country. We want to promote the discussion of these
ideas and break down the taboo surrounding the idea of compassionate drug
policy," Gibbons said.

While the final SSDP meeting of the semester will be held this week, the
future appears to be bright for the organization. While SSDP has been
funded through member donations thus far, the USG Ways and Means committee
has approved $500 for the SSDP budget next year, which the group hopes to
use to cover printing and advertising costs and to bring a guest speaker to
MTU.

Gibbons also stated that SSDP hopes to show "Busted" again next year,
while its long term goals are to work with other student organizations to
sponsor larger events, to convince the USG to pass a resolution denouncing
the Higher Education Act and add and motivate new students to become
involved in political action and reform.

Students can join SSDP by attending a meeting or event and signing up to be
on the e-mail list, ssdp-l@mtu.edu. For more information on SSDP, contact
Gibbons at gsgibbon@mtu.edu.