URI SSDP GOES TO CALIFORNIA

To the Cigar,

It was Wednesday night and we still had no idea who was leaving for
California to represent us the next day. Five of us from the University of
Rhode Island's chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy were planning
to attend the Marijuana Policy Project/SSDP national conference.
Unfortunately, we'd just found out that the Student Senate's credit card
was rejected and that our airline ticket purchase was never processed. When
we found this out, tickets had almost doubled in price and we were informed
only three of us could go.

Faced with this dilemma on the eve of our departure, we devised a plan.
Starting at 9 p.m., with an appeal to goodwill, we called everyone involved
with our group. Within three hours, we had raised enough money to purchase
one more ticket. The next day, when we informed the Student Senate Finance
Chairman Matt Malachowski, he responded to our last-minute endeavor by
kindly pledging to have senate pay for the fifth ticket.

Our perseverance to attend the conference was paralleled by the optimistic
opening remarks of Shawn Heller, national director of SSDP. Just days
before, the drug policy reform movement had suffered a large blow with the
defeat of several ballot initiatives around the country. One in Nevada
would have legalized possession of up to three ounces of marijuana. Another
in Arizona would have decriminalized marijuana possession. A third in Ohio
would have provided treatment instead of jail for some drug offenders.

Heller opened the conference by quoting Gandhi. According to Gandhi, any
movement goes through a progression of stages: first it is ignored, then
laughed at, and then beaten down, and finally perseveres until success is
achieved. Heller said that Nov. 5's "beat-down" is a sign of the drug
warriors' fear and that the reform movement is almost on the verge of winning.

According to SSDP, almost half of the 600 conference attendees were
students. In a message to the large number of students in attendance,
Heller proclaimed, "we're the DARE generation. We must not let the drug war
continue in our names."

During lunch on Saturday, a group of us from schools throughout the
Northeast decided to hold a regional caucus meeting. At this meeting, it
was decided that URI will be the host of the 2003 SSDP regional meeting on
a weekend this spring. SSDP members from around the region will be coming
to our campus to converge and devise strategies on how to reform our
nation's failed drug policies. URI students and faculty can and should take
advantage of the many informative seminars that will take place throughout
the weekend.

Later on Saturday evening, SSDP held its National Congress meeting to set
the upcoming year's agenda and elect new Board of Directors members. The 45
chapters that were represented voted to keep Higher Education Act reform,
student drug testing and harm reduction education as national agenda items,
while electing to remove Plan Colombia from the agenda. Higher education
vs. prison spending was chosen as a new agenda item.

I am honored to say I am among three new Board members elected by the SSDP
Congress. The 14 members of the Board of Directors are responsible for
managing the organization's finances, implementing the national agenda and
assisting chapters around the country.

Informational and training sessions throughout the weekend focused on
medical marijuana, children in the war on drugs, cognitive liberties, high
school drug testing, media relations, law enforcement against the drug war
and running local ballot initiatives.

What started off as a sad week for drug policy reform in the United States
concluded on an optimistic note at the conference. Reform organizations
like SSDP are growing at exponential rates. SSDP started four years ago and
now has almost 200 chapters nationwide. When so many young people are now
working for positive social change, we can only look to the future with
optimism.

I would like to thank the Student Senate for giving us the opportunity to
travel to Anaheim and meet so many of our fellow drug policy reformers.
Special thanks go to Matt Malachowski and everyone who donated to our
emergency trip fund, who we absolutely couldn't have pulled it off without.

At the conference, bridges were built between URI SSDP and other chapters around the region and country. Our movement is much stronger as a result of the connections that were made over one weekend in Anaheim. It was truly an experience that we will not soon forget.

URI SSDP meets Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union 2nd floor lounge. For more information, see http://members.cox.net/urissdp or www.ssdp.org

Tom Angell, URI SSDP President