Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Our Google Calendar

Christopher Pezza — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:06:55 +0000

Agenda from 3/29/10

Christopher Pezza — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 02:41:07 +0000

4/1 SAFER Day of Action Planning: 1/2 hour News Conference on the safety of Marijuana vs. Alcohol – Thursday @ noon – Location TBD – 75 college campuses around the country will be joining together to highlight the fact that Marijuana is far SAFER than alcohol. We need as many students as possible to attend, so please help spread the word. More Info Soon…

4/3-4/4 Colorado Cannabis Festival next weekend at Denver Convention Center – Who’s in? $25 – feat. meet and greet with Cypress Hill

4/9 AMPLIFY Event – John Brown’s Body at the Gothic in Denver – Promotion and Logistics

4/17 Boulder Cannabis Festival – We will be tabling 4pm to Midnight at the Fox theater in Boulder

4/20 CU Extravaganza – Who’s In? Free & Fun

NORML National Forum? Is it happening?

4/21 – LEAP Speaker Leonard Frieling @ FRCC and End of Semester Bash/Party in the Courtyard – Major Planning and Logistics

SSDP CO Coalition – Conference Call & Potential Regional Team Building Event Planning

Jon Perri – We need to get our rockstar outreach coordinator to CO – Planning

SSDPtalk News

CO HB1284 Overview

Just Returned from SSDP’s 11th International Conference in San Francisco!

Christopher Pezza — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:30:58 +0000

Hello Everyone,

What a weekend! I hope to post photos and videos from the conference soon. The weekend was full of breakout sessions regarding the drug war and ways to improve our chapters. Everyone left San Francisco inspired and energized! Nick, Kara, and myself represented the FRCC chapter, and connected with so many wonderful young activists from around the country. I ran for Board of Directors, and was granted an alternate position in case another board member decides to leave. This conference is one of the best reasons to get involved with SSDP, opening up many opportunities you may not realize are waiting for you….

I hope to see some you at our upcoming events:

3/29 – 2pm – Movie Screening in C1480: “American Drug War” a Kevin Booth film

4/21 – 2pm – SSDP Mini-Conference in the Community Room: Join us for a discussion about the 11th annual SSDP conference – Feat. Video clips, a Q & A with local dispensary owners from Longmont’s Nature’s Medicine, and a presentation by LEAP’s former municipal judge Leonard Frieling.

Get active in this amazing community and END THE DRUG WAR!

-Christopher Pezza

Chapter President

CO Business Report Released by CTI

Christopher Pezza — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:00:30 +0000

Hey All,

http://www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com/

I Wanted to pass along this link to the group. We are in discussion regarding co-sponsoring events with The Cannabis Therapy Institute to educate our communities as to how to lawfully and successfully involve themselves in the medical marijuana industry. Check out the Medical Cannabis Business Report on their website. Here is some Info from their site:

“[Boulder, CO] — The Cannabis Therapy Institute has released a report titled, “Encouraging the Economic Development of Medical Cannabis Businesses in Colorado.” The report was written for policymakers that are considering regulations regarding medical cannabis businesses in their areas. The report includes a draft ordinance that communities can use as a framework for developing their own regulations and policies. The Institute released its report on Oct. 6 to the city councils of Durango, Lafayette, Longmont, Louisville and Thornton, who will all discussed regulating medical cannabis businesses at their city council meetings that day.”

Have a wonderful weekend,

Chris Pezza

More Meetings!!!

Christopher Pezza — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:56:44 +0000

Hello!

We would like to thank everyone who came out for the first meetings of the semester. There was an overwhelming response from students and faculty alike, and we trully appreciate your support. We would also like to thank John Brown’s Body (www.johnbrownsbody.com) for their participation in the SSDP amplify program, which allowed our chapter to get involved at their Colorado performances this last weekend.

We have some news for you:

-Next meetings: Monday 9/28 @ 11am and 1pm
Tuesday 9/29 @ 3pm

These meetings will be focused on going over our chapter constitutions, as well as discussing distribution of responsibilities. We will begin planning our events for the semester as well. All three meetings will be very similar and minutes will be passed along by email afterwards. We will also be tabling in the student commons again this week.

See you in a week!

- SSDP Front Range

Back in Action: SSDP-FRCC Fall Information

Christopher Pezza — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 08:35:15 +0000

Hello World,

We would like to inform you of two informational/recruiting meetings being held on campus TODAY at FRCC-BCC:

1pm and 3pm in the Student Clubs Room — Free Knowledge and Pizza

Come Join us as we talk about how we as students can change perspectives regarding a failing drug war. We will discuss:

– An overview of the organization and it’s efforts

– The Souder Amendment, which may be voted back into law tomorrow. Rep. Souder’s work with the Higher Education Act has banned 200,000+ students from Federal Financial Aid for misdemeanor drug charges. Read More Below

– The growing medical marijuana scene in Colorado, and how patients can access doctors and dispensaries.

– Event Planning and Off Campus Events this Fall

Tabling in the student commons these last few days has revealed an overwhelming support from the student body and faculty at Front Range Community College. We commend you all for your support and participation. This is a crucial time in Boulder County for organizations like SSDP to bring drug policy reform into the foreground.

Lets Make it Happen!

-Students for Sensible Drug Policy at FRCC-BCC

P.S. If you would like to be added to our email list just send it to ssdpboulder@gmail.com

P.P.S. Here’s the Info Regarding the Souder Amendment:
Nobody should ever be denied an education because they have a drug possession conviction. But that’s exactly what will continue to happen if an amendment is passed by Congress this Thursday (Sept 17). Your help is needed, RIGHT NOW, to keep students in school!

1) MAKE THE CALL: Dial the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask for your representative’s office if you know his/her name. If you don’t, simply give the operator your address. (Please be patient for an answer, as it sometimes takes several rings to get through. If you reach a voicemail box, please leave a polite message.)

2) SPEAK YOUR MIND: When the receptionist in your representative’s office answers the phone, politely say: “My name is ________ and I’d like my representative to vote against Representative Souder’s Amendment to the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, which denies educational opportunities to students with minor drug possession convictions. Blocking access to education causes more drug problems and hurts the economy. Thank you.”

3) SPREAD THE WORD: Forward this message to everyone you know! CLICK HERE TO SHARE ON FACEBOOK. Twitter this URL: http://ssdp.org/urgent

MORE INFO: Earlier this year, Congressional Democrats did the right thing by adding language to SAFRA (Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, HR 3221), which would ensure that students with drug possession convictions would no longer be denied financial aid for college (since 1998, more than 200,000 students have been denied aid!). However, the Republican who created the financial aid ban (Rep. Souder) has launched a last minute campaign to keep his law in place! This will be a close vote, so every phone call counts. Your representative needs to hear from you!

TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO VOTE NO ON THE SOUDER AMENDMENT TO SAFRA!! http://ssdp.org/urgent

Together, we can get rid of this bad law once and for all!

Micah Daigle, Executive Director*
Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Fall Semester 2009

Christopher Pezza — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:52:05 +0000

Hope you’ve all had a wonderful summer. Spending the summer in the Northeast has been a reinforcing experience regarding the importance of drug policy reform. The recession has hit hard in Rhode Island, and public attitude is becoming more open to avenues such as marijuana legalization. I’ve had the pleasure of Micah Daigle’s company this last week, and we’ve exchanged lots of interesting information and ideas regarding the mission of SSDP. I must congratate Micah for being elected to our Executive Director position by the SSDP Board. He will no doubt steer this ship in the right direction. Here are some notes I wanted to share before the semester begins. There will be an update going out soon with the time of our first meeting and the agenda for that meeting. I must encourage everyone to attend and bring all your friends who are passionate about extending our cognitive liberties.

* As we near our new semester I wanted to ask that all who are interested in attending meetings to please send me your tentative schedules at CPezza85@gmail.com so I may schedule accordingly.

* The SSDP International Conference has been announced for next February in San Francisco, CA. There will be scholarships available for SSDP members who meet certain criteria TBA. It would be wonderful to take a group of students from Colorado out to the conference, and we will work towards that goal this fall. For those of you who haven’t been to San Francisco… we will have A LOT of fun beyond the conference. The conference itself will be an amazing educational and networking opportunity bringing students, politicians, and characters of the movement together from all over the country.

* Our first meeting of the fall semester will be held on Thursday August 27th, time TBA.

* We will be scheduling a field trip to a local medical marijuana dispenserie on a weekend in early October.

* Officer elections — We will hold Officer elections the third week of classes. The reason we hold them so late is to get more people in the running, and to allow candidates to articulate their intentions to members. If you are interested in running for any position (Pres., VP, Secretary, Treasurer) please contact me as soon as possible.

Enjoy the storm today, and I’ll see you all in CO around August 15th.

Take Care,

Pez
401.528.9159

Fall Planning for FRCC’s SSDP chapter

Christopher Pezza — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 23:32:41 +0000

So its almost time to register for classes and the question is… what do
we want to do this Fall? First to note, all officer seats are up at the end
of this semester. We hold officer elections for the ’09-’00 School Year at
our first meeting this fall. I IMPLORE YOU TO RUN FOR A SEAT… available
seats include: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer.
Responsibilities include: 1) President – conducts meetings and leadership
meetings 2) Vice President – same as the President, required to conduct
meetings in absence of president, 3) Secretary – takes notes at each meeting
and communicates minutes to the entire group, 4) Treasurer – keeps track of
the group budget and is repsonsible for making financial requests from
school administration. I would like to note that 3 of our group members are
also part of the student governent association this fall at FRCC Boulder:
Nick Davis – SGA Vice President, Chris Pezza (me) – SGA Secretary, John
Nemes – SGA Legislative Representive. Bravo Nick and John! I implore
everyone on campus who wants to experience the political process on the
microcosmic level to join the Student Government. Overall, its a great
opportunity to get involved with decisions that directly affect you as
students. This fall semester is our first opportunity for SSDP at Front
Range to have a whole semester to organize great on campus events and
campaigns. As far as the summer is concerned… RECRUIT, RECRUIT, RECRUIT!!!
Appreciations
First Off, I would like to thank Mary Ann Grim, who is an amazing history
proffesor who helped up get this group authorized by becoming our faculty
advisor. Without Mary Ann, we may not have been able to have a legimate
chapter at Front Range Community College. Also, I have to thank the groups
officers: Cameron Murdock, John Nemes, and Taylor Jenkins for devoting their
time and passion towarding furthering this noble cause. Thank you to Nick
Davis, for all the support and time devoted, you’re the man. John Perri, who
I had the pleasure to hang with in person last weekend, has been the voice
on the phone guiding our motions in setting up this chapter. You all rock!
Thanks to all our members and supporters: Rosie, Britta, Cory, Aaron, Julie,
Laura, and I hope I didn’t forget anyone… though its likely:) On a last
and final note, I would like to thank everyone who has been willing to come
out of drug war closet, and speak up against these unjust policies. It is
troubling and sad that a majority of our supporters have prefered to remain
underground or ambiguous regarding their opinions on these topics (uhhum,
Obama). So thanks to all to have the courage to recognize our duty in
changing policies which hurt us as Americans. I just found out at the
conference the other day the Declaration of Independence was written on
Hemp! Amazing…

Hope to see you all this week… or at least this fall,

Rock On,

Christopher Pezza
FRCC SSDP Chapter President

Museum Team Building Event Approved

Christopher Pezza — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:23:30 +0000

Just got the approval from the Denver Art Museum that we may attend the special exhibit on Saturday May 2, 2009 for $5 per person. The fee will be covered from our funding. One thing to note is that funding will only be available to those members who’ve attended meetings. Make sure if you haven’t attended a meeting, you make it to an event or contact me personally at CPezza85@gmail.com. Thanks everyone!

-Christopher Pezza

Website Fully Updated!!!

Christopher Pezza — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:15:05 +0000

Make sure to check out our calendar to be up to date with upcoming events… We have also posted member photos and bios under the members section… surf around, see whats new, and give us your feedback!