On October 1, 1998, a group of students at the Rochester Institute of Technology decided to rename their campus organizing group and call themselves Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Twenty-eight years later, SSDP has grown from a single chapter in upstate New York into a global network spanning hundreds of ...

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With over 11,000 cannabis possession arrests in Pennsylvania in recent years and growing support from Governor Shapiro, momentum is building for legalization grounded in equity and safety. Neighboring states have already legalized adult use, and Pennsylvania is now a laggard in policy and tax revenue potential (projected first-year revenue over ...

Federal cannabis prohibition has fueled unnecessary arrests, prison sentences, and criminalized millions of people. Nearly a quarter of a million people are arrested yearly exclusively for cannabis possession across the United States, even in states where cannabis has been legalized. Despite the majority of US citizens supporting cannabis legalization and ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kat Murti Executive Director Students for Sensible Drug Policy kat@ssdp.org DEA SCHEDULE I PROPOSAL WOULD CRIMINALIZE COMPOUND WITH BREAKTHROUGH THERAPY STATUS FOR POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION September 30, 2026 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — A psychedelic drug granted Breakthrough Therapy designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ...

By SPC Beginning in August 2025, the White House has published a series of executive orders and proposed rulings that would shift the review process of federal research grants away from scientific experts and into the hands of political appointees. This would be catastrophic for ensuring scientific integrity across National ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kat Murti Executive Director Students for Sensible Drug Policy kat@ssdp.org AFTER HISTORIC FDA HEARING ON PSYCHEDELIC THERAPIES, GRASSROOTS STUDENT GROUP MOBILIZES TO SHAPE WHAT COMES NEXT Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) members participated in the historic FDA hearing, then hosted more than 150 advocates, researchers, ...

When the FDA asked the public what the future of psychedelic therapies should look like, SSDPers showed up with something federal drug policy desperately needs: the voices of people directly affected by the decisions being made. On September 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration convened a major public hearing ...

The psychedelic movement is at a gateway. The question is what we build on the other side. On September 14, advocates, researchers, practitioners, patients, and community members came to the Washington, D.C. area for the FDA’s first-ever public hearing focused specifically on the potential future therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs ...

Ten years ago, world leaders gathered at the United Nations for the 2016 Special Session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS), amid growing calls for a different approach to the War on Drugs. A decade later, where are we now — and where do we go from here? On Tuesday, ...

On September 25, Students for Sensible Drug Policy Executive Director Kat Murti will deliver a keynote address at the 5th Annual New Approaches Summit in New York City, bringing SSDP’s unapologetically evidence-based approach to drug policy to one of the country’s leading conversations on nicotine, tobacco, and harm reduction. Her ...

An SSDP & MAPS Benefit Event, on the Night of the FDA Public HearingThe psychedelic community is coming to DC for a major FDA public hearing on the therapeutic use of psychedelics—bringing together federal officials, researchers, clinicians, patients, and movement leaders. When the hearing ends, THE GATEWAY opens. Join the ...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is holding a public hearing on "Considerations for Potential Future Therapeutic Use of Psychedelic Drugs" both in person and virtually September 14th, 2026 12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET. In collaboration with federal partners, the FDA is looking to collect responses and viewpoints ...

Every August 31, International Overdose Awareness Day asks us to remember the people we have lost to overdose, stand with the people who loved them, challenge the stigma surrounding drug use, and recommit ourselves to preventing more deaths. At Students for Sensible Drug Policy, remembrance must also mean action. The ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kat Murti Executive Director Students for Sensible Drug Policy kat@ssdp.org Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) warns the move could obstruct research into a compound developed through taxpayer-funded research seeking safer approaches to pain and opioid dependence, and is urging Americans to contact Congress through SSDP’s ...

On August 26, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced they would be reopening and extending the public comment period on the proposed threshold for 7-OH scheduling. The public originally had until July 31 to submit comments — less than 30 days since the notice was published on ...

Cannabis Law Report recently highlighted Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s work advocating for a science-based, harm reduction approach to kratom, 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), and emerging products. The article spotlights SSDP’s recent webinar, “Kratom, 7-OH, and Emerging Products: A Science-Based Safety Primer,” which brought together experts and advocates to examine what the ...

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is proud to see SSDP alum and drug educator Rhana Hashemi featured in The Microdose, the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics’ newsletter, discussing what young people actually need from drug education. In the interview, “From ‘just say no’ to just say nothing,” ...

The federal government is moving to place 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), SR-17018, and tianeptine into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act — three very different compounds with different pharmacological profiles, patterns of use, and bodies of scientific evidence. Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is calling on Congress to intervene. Tell ...

Long before legal cannabis became a multibillion-dollar industry, Oaksterdam University was training the people who would build it — and helping create the movement that made it possible. For years, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Oaksterdam University have shared more than overlapping communities. Our histories are intertwined with the ...