Join the Youth and Student Movement to end the War on Drugs.
Levent Akbulut is a founder and the Na- tional Coordinator of Students for Sen- sible Drug Policy UK.
For more information on getting in- volved in SSDP UK, check out http://
ssdp.org.uk or read their blog at
http://ssdp-uk.blogspot.com.
Become a fan on Facebook
http://facebook.com/ssdpuk and add them on Twitter
http://twitter.com/ssdpuk.
Te late comedian Bill Hicks once said of our drug laws that ‘it’s not a war on drugs; it’s a war on per- sonal freedom’. You could also argue that it has been as much a war on young people, minorities, vulner- able people and the human race itself.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy network was
founded in the United States back in 1998 in re- sponse to the Higher Education Act which prevent- ed students with drug convictions from receiving financial aid to go to university or college - students with convictions for any other crime were not ex- empt from funding. Since then the movement has grown into a powerful force with nearly 200 local groups all over the world.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy UK was founded in April 2008 by a small group of student cannabis activists at the University of Leeds. SSDP UK was set up in response to a lack of focus on tackling the harms caused by our drug laws by the National Un- ion of Students. Just as mainstream politicking has been infected by a sense of complacency and fear by careerist politicians too afraid to touch these issues, until recently, barring a few lone heroes, the world of student organising had been much the same.
Te war on drugs has been fought with the noble intention of protecting young people - however as readers of ISMOKE Magazine are most likely aware, the drug war has achieved the exact opposite and has been a tool used to perpetrate the oppression of young people and other vulnerable groups. Te first
ISMOKE | 60
Tere are now SSDP representatives in about 25 universities, colleges and local communities all working to build a stronger national movement. When at first we were met with hostility and oſten ignored by the mainstream movement, we’re now actively working with some of the leadership of the National Union of Students to change the way we handle drugs in society.
Our ultimate goal is a healthier and more tolerant
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