Students for Sensible Drug Policy, West Virginia University Chapter
Email: ssdp.wvu@gmail.com
On the Web: www.sensiblemountaineers.org
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/ssdp.wvu
Drug Policy Reform Advocates to Speak at West Virginia University
Eric Sterling, President of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation and Advisory Board member to L.E.A.P. (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) and religious leader Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn will visit West Virginia University to call for change in our nation’s drug policies.
They will be speaking at “Voices of Change: Building Stronger Communities through Drug Policy Reform,” a town hall-style event held at 7:00pm on October 5, at the WVU Mountainlair, hosted by the West Virginia University chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Sterling and Kahn will discuss the failure of drug prohibition, the necessity of reform, and how reforming drug policies can actually build stronger, safer communities.
Since 1989, Eric E. Sterling has been the President of The Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, a private non-profit educational organization that helps educate the nation about problems in our criminal justice system. Before this, Sterling was Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary from 1979 until 1989, where he helped shape federal crime control and drug policy legislation.
Rabbi Kahn, former Executive Director of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative and founder of the Takoma Park Wellness Center (soon to be Washington, D.C.’s first medical marijuana dispensary), said that America’s zero-tolerance drug laws causes suffering, especially for minorities. “I think scripture is very clear that when we have the opportunity to help people, we must do it,” Kahn said on the topic of medical marijuana and religion.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy is an international grassroots network of students who are working to end the destructive “War on Drugs.” SSDP believes that drug abuse is a very real problem, but punishment and discrimination only make the problem worse. Because SSDP believes that drug abuse should be treated as a public health issue instead of a criminal justice issue, the organization works to encourage sensible polices that promote a safe and healthy future, while exploring alternatives to counterproductive drug war polices.
“Drug prohibition isn’t just a student issue and students are not the only group seeking an end to the destructive ‘War on Drugs;’ even religious leaders and law enforcement professionals are calling for change. There is a resounding sense that we should reevaluate the way we address drug problems in our society,” Drew Stromberg, President of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, WVU chapter.
