As a three-year member of UW-Eau Claire’s Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, senior Randy Lusk has heard many of the negative stereotypes associated with the organization.
“We’re always stereotyped as stoners who want to legalize pot,” Lusk said.
SSDP, a nationwide organization boasting roughly 200 chapters, designated this week as “Just Say KNOW to Drugs Week.” The name has put a spin on the traditional “Just say no to drugs” mantra.
| “We’re always stereotyped as stoners who want to legalize pot.” –Randy Lusk Senior |
Instead of advocating drug use, the organization strives to combat drug ignorance with education, Lusk said.
“We want to educate people and make sure their choices aren’t based on ignorance,” he said.
“Students need to be safe about their decisions.”
The week started with Tuesday’s “Baked Sale.”
Members of SSDP set up tables in Hibbard and Phillips halls from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and sold baked goods.
Today features a “Know Your Rights” workshop from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Wisconsin Room of Davies Center.
It is an interactive lecture informing students about their civil liberties during a police encounter.
It will be hosted by SSDP and the American Civil Liberties Union.
The week’s events wrap up Friday with “The Emperor Wears No Clothes,” taking place at the House of Rock, 422 Water St.
The title comes from a book written by Jack Herer, which is “the Bible on industrial hemp, hemp and marijuana,” Lusk said.
The event features the bands The Legend of Dulooz, Bear Feat Banned and Day Old Bread.
Doors open at 9 p.m. with a $3 cover charge, and students must be 21 years of age with ID.
The funds raised throughout the week will be used for club expenses and scholarships for students violating the Higher Education Act of 1998.
This act delays or denies federal financial aid eligibility to any individual convicted of a state or federal drug offense, according to a HEA drug provision fact sheet.
SSDP at Eau Claire is committed to fighting the War on Drugs, according to the organization’s Web site.
Founded in 1995, it was originally called CHILI-the Campus Hemp Information and Legalization Initiative.
About 200 chapters of SSDP are active on college campuses nationwide.
The current focus of the Eau Claire SSDP is harm reduction and medicinal marijuana.
There is a lot of things the SSDP hopes to accomplish this semester, Lusk said.
“We want to educate people to fight ignorance — our biggest enemy,” Lusk said. “And as for legalizing pot, that has nothing to do with it at all, except for medicinal purposes.”
