The Science and Medicine of Psychedelics
Come to List 120 to hear Dr. Sewell from Harvard Medical School talk about the latest research on psychedelics! The focus will be on LSD and psilocybin mushrooms for cluster headache sufferers.
URI Hemp Festival
Come to the Hemp Festival hosted by the University of Rhode Island!
SSDP Regional Conference
The SSDP will convene at a regional conference in New Paltz.
Earth Day
Come by our booth for face painting and tattoos!
A Day on College Hill Fair
Come by our booth for tattoos and t-shirts!
Health Care Rally
Come to the rally for Health care at the Statehouse! This rally will be an excellent place to network with Rhode Islanders involved in health issues. By this point, our wesite should be up and we'll have little flyers to have out.
ACLU: Jerry Elmer Presentation
Jerry Elmer, author of Felon for Peace, will come speak about parallels between the Vietnam War and the War in Iraq.
Speaker: Rob Richie, Director of Fairvote
Rob Richie is the Executive Director of Fairvote.org (formerly called the Center for Voting and Democracy). Fairvote is spearheading the effort for a "Right to Vote" amendment to the US Constitution, to end felon disenfranchisement, and institute universal voter registration. Fairvote also works on important reforms like public financing of elections, instant runoff voting, and proportional representation. Richie will talk about Fairvote's initiatives, and how they relate to Rhode Island's ongoing right to vote and clean elections efforts. Richie lectures on a regular basis, and is a frequent guest on NPR, C-SPAN, and the cable news networks. His op-eds have run in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Nation, and elsewhere. Come hear Rob Richie speak @ 7 pm in the Carmichael Auditorium (in Hunter Lab, 89 Waterman Street)!
ACLU: Detainment, Torture, and Domestic Surveillance: Resisting Bush
The granddaughter of Ethyl and Julius Rosenberg, Rachel Meeropol is emerging as a leading defender of civil liberties in the post-9/11 U.S.A. Based at the Center for Constitutional Rights in NYC, Meeropol is currently heading 2 very important lawsuits: the first suit involves the detention without charge, torture/abuse, and deportation of many Arab New Yorkers in the days following 9/11; the second case involves Bush's "domestic surveillance". Come to Smith Buonanno 106 @ 8!
**Movie** High: The true tale of American Marijuana
Brown SSDP is proud to host a screening of the brand-new feature film High: The true tale of American Marijuana, directed by John Holowach. More information can be found at www.truehigh.com.
Martin Torgoff Presentation
SSDP will host renowned author Martin Torgoff (Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000) giving an address at Brown.
General Body Meeting
Never been to an SSDP meeting before? This is the perfect chance to hear about our agenda and projects for this semester -- and get involved!!
SSDP at the Activities Fair!
Come visit the SSDP booth at the Activities Fair in the OMAC. Free food and information -- plus we'll have costumes!
SSDP Board Meeting
All are welcome to help plan our semester. Schedule: 8:00 Right to Vote; 8:30 General Business; 9:00 medical marijuana; 9:30 publicity.
New Officers for Spring 2006
Congratulations to our new Spring 2006 officers! They are:
| President: Dan MacCombie | Vice President: Nureen Ghuznavi |
| Secretary: Julie Soic | Treasurer: Kristin Jordan |
| Publicity: Nina Fitzerman-Blue | Media: Jesse Adams & Colin Chazen |
| Medical MJ: Trevor Heneveld | RTV: Chris Suarez & Ariel Werner |
| HEA: Jesse Stout | DRC: Jen Giron |
America Incarcerated Symposium
SSDP is proud to announce America Incarcerated, a discussion on Prison Issues in Rhode Island.
Thurs 12/1: Documentary Film Screening, 8PM, Starr Auditorium
Fri 12/2: Concert in Underground with Broad St. Studios & PoeTree, 9PM
Sat 12/3: Symposium - Peter Wagner of Prison Policy Institute, 1PM; Panel Discussion afterwards; day of discussion of impact of prison on communities and families, Starr Auditorium
Sun 12/4: Right to Vote Fundraiser, Shanghai, 9pm-midnight, $5 cover
Site Improvements!
Check out our two issue pages: Medical Marijuana and Higher Education Act Reform. We are working to get the other issue pages up so you can know more specifically what type of advocacy work we've been up to.
New Officers for Fall 2005
Congratulations to those elected for positions for the Fall 2005 semester. Our new officeholders are:
| President: Kai Morrison | Vice President: Matt Palevsky |
| Secretary: Jess Vosbourgh | Treasurer: Dan MacCombie |
| Events Coordinator: Cindy Beavon | Media: Jesse Adams & Chris Suarez |
| CHEX: Nathaniel Lepp | RTV: Nick Renzler |
| HEA: Nureen Guznavi | DRC: Amelia Rosenman & Julie Soic |
Drug Resource Center Open!
Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Department of Health Education would like to announce the opening of a new peer-based Drug Resource Center (DRC). The center will be staffed solely by trained students and is consistent with the University's mission of understanding through free inquiry.
The DRC serves as an accessible, confidential and non-judgmental space in which students can ask questions and receive reliable, up-to-date information about drugs and the effects of drug use. The DRC will also make referrals to on- and off-campus treatment and counseling services.
We believe students should be making informed decisions about their health and well-being and are excited to provide an unintimidating space for students to become informed. We encourage EVERYONE to drop by and educate themselves.
Hours for April & May 2005 are Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 3-5PM in the SSDP office, Faunce 203. For more information, click here.
Science & Medicine in Psychedelics
Come hear Dr. Halpern and Dr. Sewell, researchers at Harvard University Medical School, give a lecture on their current research into the medicinal potential of LSD, Psilocybin, and MDMA. Drs Halpern and Sewell are in the process of developing research into Psilocybin and LSD in the treatment and prevention of cluster headaches. Sufferers of episodic cluster headaches experience excruciatingly painful headaches a few times a day in cyclical periods throughout the year. Dr. Halpern is also currently researching the risks associated with use of peyote and MDMA, and is responsible for the development of research into MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with anxiety as a result of advanced stage cancer, a study which received FDA approval in January 2005, and is made possible by MAPS.
Panel: International War on Drugs
We will have an all-star panel of experts to discuss Plan Colombia, US interdiction and eradication programs, and the various effects, successes, and failures of global drug prohibition regimes. Sanho Tree, director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, Professor Peter Andreas from the Brown Political Science Department, and Aung Din, the Policy Director of the US Campaign for Burma will participate and Ricardo Luna, former Peruvian Ambassador to the US and the UN will moderate. Co-sponsors are the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown, OXFAM, Latino History Month, Brown Democrats, and Amnesty International.
Felony Disenfranchisement & Mandatory Minimum Hearings
There were two hearings, one on the bill to end felony disenfranchisement in Rhode Island and another concerning mandatory minimum sentencing. Our very own Nathaniel Lepp testified at the latter hearing. A large group of SSDPers were present at the rally in front of the State House for the Rhode Island Right to Vote Campaign. More information on both campaigns can be found at the website of the RI Family Life Center.
Medical Marijuana Hearing
The Rhode Island Senate Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on the Medical Marijuana Bill April 5 at 4:30 PM. We hope to bring a large group of people to demonstrate our support for the bill at the hearing.
Testifying will be:
Rhonda O'Donnell (MS patient), Kaelyn McGregor (Breast Cancer patient), Warren Dolbashian (Tourette's patient with chronic pain), J. Michael Walker, P.hD (Endocannabinoid pain researcher at University of Indiana and formerly at Brown University), David Lewis, M.D. (former director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University), Margaret Sun, M.D. (RI physician),
Steve Detoy, M.D. (President, RI Medical Society), Chris Butler (Director, AIDS Project RI, and Steve Brown - Director, RI- ACLU
Benefit Concert
SSDP will be having a concert to raise awareness for Right to Vote and Democracy Matters, another campus-based group. Featuring: Broad Street Studios and Word Poetry.
Elaine Brown Lecture
Elaine Brown, Chairperson and Minister of Defense for the Black Panther Party from 1974-1977, will give an hour-long lecture entitled "New Age Racism" in Starr Auditorium at Brown Univeristy on March 16. This will be followed by a question-and-answer question and a book signing. Elaine Brown is the author of A Taste of Power (1992) and The Condemnation of Little B (2002). This lecture is being sponsored by SSDP, Brown Democrats, Brown Lecture Board, Women Students at Brown, the Undergraduate Finance Board, Sarah Doyle Women's Center, Office of Institutional Diversity, Office of the Dean of the College, Office of Campus Life and Student Services, Center for Race and Ethnicity, and the Third World Center.
Lecture: Judge James P. Gray
Judge James P. Gray will address drug policy issues as a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). Gray is a sitting judge of the Superior Court of Orange County, California, he ran for Senate in California as a Libertarian in 2004, and he will sign copies of his book, "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It."
General Body Meeting
First General Body Meeting of 2nd Semester: Free pizza!
Right to Vote Coalition Meeting
The statewide Rhode Island Right to Vote Coalition will be having a meeting at 4PM at the Family Life Center, which is located at 841 Broad Street in Providence. For directions from the Brown campus, click here. More information on the Family Life Center can be found here.
2004
FREEDOM WEEK: Right to Vote Day of Action
Come to the PO in Faunce House between 11 and 3 tomorrow to learn more about SSDP's efforts to end felony disenfranchisement in Rhode Island and our broad-based Right to Vote Coalition.
FREEDOM WEEK: HEA Day of Action
Education is the best rehabilitation. Call your Senators and Representatives to tell the to repeal the Drug Provision of the Higher Education Act. Come talk to us in the PO. You can find out your elected officials' information at http://www.vote-smart.org
FREEDOM WEEK: Medical Marijuana Event
The director of Massachussetts Drug Policy Forum will be speaking about state medical marijuana legislative reforms at 8PM in Starr Auditorium.
FREEDOM WEEK: ALIXA & NAIMA
Spoke-word artists Alixa & Naima, Poets Against Oppression and the War on Drugs, will be performing their amazing set at 9PM at the Hourglass Cafe, in Faunce House.
SSDP National Conference
The SSDP National Conference is being held close to our nation's capital, and Brown SSDP intends to bring a larger delegation that the one we sent to the NE Regional in NYC. URI watch out: we'll beat your 15.
Freedom Week
Get ready for the 3rd annual SSDP Freedom Week! This year's freedom week will have events concerning felony disenfranshisement, medical marijuana and individual autonomy, the Higher Education Act, an art exhibit, and a concert.
BUSTED!
Come watch a movie about your rights during confrontations with police officers. We will have the RI Public Defender on hand to answer questions, and possible the Attorney-General of RI as well. Additionally, there will be brownies. Everyone should come.
Dead Prez Concert A Monumental Success
On Wednesday, September 29, SSDP, in conjuction with the RI Right to Vote Coalition, hosted an amazing concert at the Living Room in downtown Providence feautring Dead Prez, Poetica & the Contra Band, Alixa & Naima, and Brown's own Soul Cypher. The show was a perfectly blended mixture of politics, music, and fun. Many new people were introduced to SSDP and learned the importance of ending felony disenfranchisement, as well as having a great time. Yea SSDP!
SSDP Northeast Regional Conference
Brown SSDP is going to try to be the largest delegation at the NE Regional: 16! Beat that URI. It's at Columbia this year, and the schedule is as follows. LOCKED UP: Drugs, Prisons and Privilege. 11am Ethan Nadelmann, 12pm breakouts, 1pm Assm. Jeffrion Aubry and David Soares, 2:30pm breakouts, 3:30pm Dr. Carl Hart. They promise a party afterwards...
SSDP & Right to Vote HOST Dead Prez @ The Living Room
SSDP BENEFIT CONCERT FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTE COALITION!! Dead Prez! Poetica & the Contra Band! Soul Cypher! Alixa & Naima! Doors @ 8pm, Show @ 9pm. Tix $10 @ Brown Post Office (Faunce House, Main Green) OR @ Tom's Tracks on Thayer Street OR @ The Living Room itself (23 Rathbone Street, downtown). The Living Room is walking distance down College Hill; just follow the Woonasquatucket River (runs through Providence Place Mall) to the corner of Promenade and Rathbone. TIX ARE LIMITED...
General Body Meeting
Unbelievably, this is only our third meeting of the year, but we've already got so much going on! Note that this time/place will become quasi-permanent. Bring $10 for your Dead Prez ticket if you don't have one yet. You can also buy some to sell to your friends...
"Right to Vote" Panel on Felony Disenfranchisement
We'll host a panel discussion called "Right to Vote" at the Third World Center, on the subject of Felony Disenfranchisement. Panelists will include Mark Mauer from the Sentencing Project, Laleh Ispahani from the ACLU Voting Rights Project, and "Jazz" Hayden. After Laleh spoke during Democracy Awareness Week at Brown last year, we asked her to bring us a panel -- and here it is! This promises to be a very meaningfully informational discussion, and we encourage absolutely everyone to attend.
General Body Meeting w/ REP. SLATER
Only our second meeting of the year! We'll discuss our enormous number of amazing plans for the year, and the next couple weeks. We'll watch a humorous video about the War on Drugs. And we'll hear from REPRESENTATIVE TOM SLATER (D-Providence), who supports medical marijuana and has just won his primary with our support!
SSDP goes to the Boston Freedom Rally
See MassCann's page on the Rally for more info...
The Freedom Rally is a massive gathering of tens of thousands of people who want marijuana
to be legal and/or want to have a good time on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. There will
be FREE MUSIC and many vendors from 12-6pm. Plus, Micah Daigle (of URI SSDP fame) is having
a party Saturday night at his beautiful beach house! If you want to come with me to the
Freedom Rally, I'll be leaving from Wayland Arch (at the top of Wriston Quad) by 10:45am, to
take the 11:20am Bonanza Bus from Kennedy Plaza to South Station. Then I'll be taking the
T(subway), specifically the Red Line inbound, to Park Street, at Boston Commons. If that's
too early or late for you, you can take a 10:35am Greyhound Bus from Kennedy Plaza, or a
1:20pm Bonanza Bus. Buses return from Boston to Providence at 2, 3, 5, and 7:00pm.
First Meeting for '04-'05!
Our first meeting! Calling all '08s/freshmen! And all the upperclassmen who want to make a difference in this crazy world of ours! And anyone who wants FREE REFRESHMENTS!! Third floor of Wilson at 9pm on 9/13... be there!
Relay for Life -- and -- PoeTree
This Saturday, the Relay for Life will be held from noon to midnight on the Main Green to benefit the American Cancer Society. Since SSDP is the only group on campus making concrete changes to help cancer patients, we will obviously be fielding a team. Please come show your support, check out our table, or even walk with us for a while!
This Saturday at 3pm: Alixa & Naima, the nationally acclaimed spoken-word poets who are PoeTree, will be performing in Wilson Hall -- and they'll be introduced by SSDP's National Director, Scarlett Swerdlow! We'll be taking a brief break from circling the Green to see their dynamic performance about the injustices of the War on Drugs.
Election Results!
We ate pizza and elected officers! Here's to a great fall '04 semester with new Co-Presidents Trevor and Katherine. They'll be assisted by Cindy as VP, Jesse as Secretary, Nathaniel as Treasurer, Jed as Publicity Chair, Diana as Media Director, and Chris as Fundraiser.
Meeting: the very last one
Come to the final SSDP meeting of the semester... WITH PIZZA! We'll talk about RELAY FOR LIFE, and hold ELECTIONS for next semester's officers.
Hemp Expo at Earth Day!
FREE FOOD, LIVE MUSIC, 100% ORGANIC, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!
You want more!!! Try this....free samples from Burt's Bees Makeup, demos
by Eastern Mountain Sports, tapestries and jewelery for sale, amazing Brown
students playing live music, free coffee from Starbucks/Coffee Exchange/Pura
Vida, Alpaca Wool for sale, organic people, free food, a yard sale, facepainting,
games, hippies!!
Medical Marijuana Symposium a success!!
When Brown SSDP hosted Symposium '03, we were thrilled to have a news crew show up to cover us, but this year was even better -- TWO camera crews came to do stories on our 4PM press conference!! We're proud to have been featured on Channel 6's 6:00 news, and Channel 12's 6:30 news; these are the local affiliates of ABC and CBS, respectively. Thanks to all of this year's speakers: Dr. John Morgan, Mark Braunstein, Justin Holmes, Nathaniel Lepp, Tom Angell, Melissa Milam, Rhonda O'Donnell, and Rep. Thomas Slater. Also, thanks to all of the Brown SSDP members and others who attended; it was a great day, and a very significant success in the effort to allow legal access to medical marijuana for Rhode Island patients. We'll post pictures soon, but in the meantime a MassCann photographer already has his on the web, so check them out at www.bostonhempfest.com!
Second Annual Brown University Medical Marijuana Symposium
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
1pm OPENING SPEAKER: Medical Marijuana
2pm SCIENCE & MEDICINE: Doctor and Patient
3pm POLITICS & MEDIA: Advocacy and Communication
4pm PRESS CONFERENCE: Activists, Patients, and Legislators
Melissa Milam (SSDP), Tom Angell (RIPAC), Mark Braunstein (CT Patient), Rep. Thomas Slater (D-Providence), Rep. Penny Bacchiochi (R-Somers)
5:00 Dinner
Science & Politics
"Cannabinoid Analgesia: A modern medicine" presented by Dr. Walker, Chair of the Department of Psychology at Brown University. Walker will discuss his current neurobiological research about the pain-relieving properties of the chemicals in marijuana called cannabinoids. Walker has a multi-million dollar grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).
"Current Drug Laws: Do They Help -- or HURT?" presented by Cliff Thornton, President of Efficacy, Inc. Cliff will describe his own voyage from the drug overdose death of his mother to his present efforts to find new, peaceful drug policies that will benefit the entire community, especially people of color. The drug reform group Efficacy is part of an emerging social movement based on common sense, harm reduction, human rights, science, compassion, and truth.
Ethan Nadelmann
Ethan Nadelmann will speak on "Defending Democracy: Building a Movement to end the War on Drugs. He is the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the leading organization in the United States promoting alternatives to the War on Drugs. He received his BA, JD, and PhD at Harvard, and a Master's in International Relations from the London School of Economics.
Ethan will also be speaking in PS0040 at 1:00pm in Salomon 101.
Laleh Ispahani
Laleh Ispahani, director of the ACLU Voting Rights Project will speak on the problem of felony disenfranchisement. In most states, people who are convicted of felonies lose the right to vote for the rest of their lives. The ACLU is fighting back to return rights to rehabilitated ex-convicts who are eager to reenter society. This event is cosponsored by the Brown Democrats as part of their Democracy Awareness Week.
INSOMNIA
Come to the SSDP-sponsored rave, INSOMNIA: A Party to Protest the RAVE Act. Tickets are $5 at the PO, $7 at the door. Don't forget to sign the back of your ticket!
Psychedelics Week
The War on Drugs has blurred the line between drug use, medicinal or mind expanding, and drug abuse to the point where general conception may be based upon misconception. To address these misconceptions, Brown SSDP is devoting a week to opening discussion about the scientific, political, and experiential aspects of psychedelia. We will be screening Attack of the Happy People a documentary on Israeli Rave culture, and will hear talks by Rick Doblin, president and founder of MAPS, an organization devoted to scientific investigation of psychedelic drugs, and host a Psychedelic Art extravaganza, with a screening of Summertime (award winning animation short) and video presentations by Alex Grey, Robert Venosa, Mark Henson and others. The week will close with political action in the form of a party to protest the RAVE Act. See our Calendar page for details.
General Body Meeting
We'll meet to talk about VoteHemp, our HEA actions, and obviously our superduperVERY quickly approaching Psychedlics Week, featuring INSOMNIA: A Party to Protest the RAVE Act. P.S.: We didn't really mean we were having an orgy.
SSDP Lovefest
orgy [noun]: 1. an occasion when a group of people behave in a wild uncontrolled way involving great pleasure and excitement 2. SSDP's general body meeting tomorrow
Alright SSDP- You've been working hard and now it's time to reward yourself. Come munch on some good (FREE) food at SSDP's general body meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, in Wilson 302 @ 8:00 pm. We're going to be taking pictures for our awesome website (so wear your ssdp/ mpp shirts), doing a letter writing campaign to R.I. Representative Patrick Kennedy to lobby against the Higher Education Act Drug Provision (an unjust law that denies federal financial aid to a student convicted of any drug-related crime), and discussing future SSDP events. March is going to be a busy month for us, so come help out, voice your opinions and support an important cause (maybe get some of that ssdp love you so desperately missed on valentine's day).
Movie Meeting
February 3rd, 8pm, Salomon 001
We will be showing the movie BUSTED!, by Steven Silverman of Flex Your Rights. The Deputy Public Defender of Rhode Island will be available to take questions. Come learn how to protect your civil rights during police encounters.
SSDP Convention
January 7-10, Manchester, NH
SSDP sent a large delegation to the January 2004 SSDP National Convention in Manchester, NH; this event coincided with a larger "College Convention." In addition to have a drug policy conference, SSDP members were able to see 7 of the 9 (excluding Al Sharpton and Richard Gephart) Democratic Presidential Candidates, as well as former Drug Czar Bill Bennett.
2003
Lecture
Wednesday, December 3rd
Come see Robert Rooks of A Better Way Foundation and Barbara Fair of People Against Injustice speak about the War On Drugs and the harm it inflicts on minorities. The lecture, cosponsored by the Third World Center, will be held at 5:00pm in the formal lounge of the TWC, and will be followed by a reception.
Freedom Week
Monday, November 10th - Friday, November 14th
All week long Brown SSDP will be sponsoring events related to the War on Drugs and drug policy in general. A complete schedule for the week can be found in the events section of this page. Please join us and support our fight!