Students for Sensible Drug Policy is a club here on campus that is dedicated towards a great course. MCLAs SSDP club is connected to the international organization for SSDP, that works with colleges globally.

According to ssdp.com, they are working towards, replacing the war on drugs with policies rooted in evidence, compassion and human rights. SSPD has 5,000 active members, made up of young people and students and mobilizes from 300 schools around the world.

Bridget Boryles 20, SSDP President, has made it her mission to help bring attention to this organization and topic to the MCLA campus.

Ive seen the way the war on drugs can really hurt people so I really care about this, she said. I know that there are so many other people that are affected by this so I just think its important that we raise our voices. We as young people have a lot of power to make change.

One of the ways works towards change is acting as a resource to students.

Our whole thing is that we dont judge people. We are here to help people and point them to the resources they need, Broyles said. We are also here to help people bring action on campus or in the community if they see a policy that they think is unfair then we can help them to combat that policy. Thats what were all about.

Broyles finds it is important to fight against the stigma surrounding people who struggle with addiction.

People who use substances are some of the vulnerable people and a lot of times the war on drugs often perpetuates itself in ways that predominantly affect marginalized groups, Broyles said. Weve had conversations about the way the war on drugs targets black men specifically.

The war on drugs is just another avenue to target people of color, poor people, and queer people. Its a problem and it needs to be talked about more openly and more honestly because its still seen as something that is so taboo, she continued.

The club works towards eliminating these stigmas and invites conversation regarding the war on by providing an environment for an open discussion through their various events.

Weve had fun events with food and drinks that were more of a party setting, Broyles said. Its just an opportunity for us to have a conversation about substances in am more fun setting rather than a, Im going to sit here in lecture you sort of setting.

They also have hosted more informational and educational events that help with campus and community harm reduction.

We had recently had a Narcan training where someone from Tapestry came by and she had a whole presentation about what Narcan is, what you can use it for, and distributed Narcan to everyone who came to the event for free, Broyles said.

In the future, Broyles hopes to see more engagement from other students within the club because of the importance of the subject matter.

Were looking really to partner with other clubs. We want to work with anyone whos interested and has some way to relate their club to drug policy, she said.

Read more:

SSDP Club Educates the Campus on Drug Policy - The Beacon