Music has the power to move people, and Students for a Sensible Drug Policy is using that power Saturday at a Mount Simon Park music festival.

“We’re using music as the medium to get our message out,” said senior Bill Hamilton, a member of SSDP.

The event features six bands playing from 2 to 10 p.m. at Mount Simon Park. Two hip-hop and four jam bands from the area will perform.

“Music, food, beer, free admission – what more could you ask for?” said senior Sara Knee, also a member of SSDP.

Autumn Groove is designed to spread awareness of the political ideas of the group. SSDP seeks to educate students on public policy issues regarding drugs and tries to change policies it believes are unjust.

“People’s lives are being ruined for nonviolent offenses,” said senior Randy Lusk, an SSDP representative, about the “war on drugs.”

SSDP wants government policy to respond to America’s drug problem with treatment, not incarceration. It’s a cheaper and better way to reduce drug use, Lusk said.

“People don’t know how much money is being wasted,” Lusk said.

Lusk said drug addiction should be treated not as a crime but as a public health problem.

Another policy that the group disagrees with is the Higher Education Act. The act states that a student going to college cannot receive financial aid if he or she has a drug-related charge on record.

SSDP also wants a change in the way children are being educated about drugs in school. Knee said the current program, D.A.R.E., doesn’t educate children, it only scares them. D.A.R.E.’s scare tactics aren’t reality-based, Knee said.

Along with the group’s stances on drug-related public policy, the group advocates political activism on all topics, Knee said.

Knee stressed the importance of voting and encouraged people to get to know more about government and get involved.

“It’s the only way to make a difference,” she said.

To show its support for student activism in any form, SSDP has space at the Autumn Groove for any student organization that wants to set up a table and advertise for any cause, Lusk said.

SSDP puts on a similar celebration known as Hempfest, with the focus on spreading knowledge on hemp and how it can be used in making products in a more environmentally sound way.

Aside from Autumn Groove and Hempfest, SSDP participates in lobbying congressmen, organizing letter writing campaigns and circulating petitions. To educate students on its views, it sets up a booth in Davies Center for its campaign “Just say know to drugs.”

As well as its political agenda, SSDP has started a scholarship fund from money earned at its functions, Lusk said.