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."
