Friday, March 19, 2010

Confrence Reinforces Youth Movement Against Drug War- Brian Reimer

Every time the prevailing zeitgeist of a civilization shifts, it is often times been by the hands of a well-organized youth movement. In fact, in the past one hundred years, every single political and social change that has occurred is due in part to student movements. Youth activist groups like the SDS in the 1960s and the National Union of Students in the United Kingdom have been striving for the advancement not only youth, but humanity as a whole.

In the tradition of such great organizations, Students for Sensible Drug Policy has been making great strides and winning major victories in the drug policy reform movement. Last weekend in San Francisco, California, students from around the globe gathered at the Fort Mason Center for SSDP’s 11th annual international conference. The results were nothing short of ground breaking.

With an attendance of several hundred students from chapters around the world, one could feel energy and excitement for activism everywhere SSDPers met. With the congregation of so many excited student activists it is without a doubt in my mind that the drug policy reform movement will never end until every single law and poorly organized policy in the United States and Worldwide are changed to reflect commonsense and compassion.

Attending the conference has been a life-changing event for many others and myself. Not only were we enlightened on the current state of affairs in the drug policy movement; we also were given the tools of action to bring back to our chapters and communities. The SSDP conference in San Francisco will be documented in history as a great turning point in this nation’s policies.

The future of this movement rests at the hands of every single SSDPer that attended the conference and those who are enlightened by those who attended. We are at a crossroads in our nation and history will look back upon this time as the beginning of the series of events that Students for Sensible Drug Policy was a highly responsible party. History has proven that, with an energetic base of students that is united under a common banner, nothing is impossible.

1 comment:

  1. I am a student from Youngstown State University and have been recently reading and researching the SSDP. I am impressed and think the energy that has been brought forth by my fellow generation is incredible. I am proud to say that I am part of a generation of such well spoken ambitious young people. Please keep up all the good work, and keep informing and educating.

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