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Program for #SSDP2014: The Students for Sensible Drug Policy Conference + Lobby Day. More info at ssdp.org/conference
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THE STUDENTS FOR SENSIBLE DRUG POLICY CONFERENCE + LOBBY DAY
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
03SCHEDULE AT
A GLANCE
05 DETAILED
CONFERENCE
AGENDA 27 JOB FAIR
28 SPONSORS
OUTREACH
RECRUITMENT
& DIVERSITY 15 SPEAKER
BIOS
25 LOCAL
INFORMATION
SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
3
FRIDAY: 09.26.2014
SATURDAY: 09.27.2014
5:00pm – 8:00pm Registration
5:00pm – 8:00pm Welcome reception
and regional networking with light hors
d’oeuvres and cash bar.
8:00pm – 10:00pm Congress I (students
only)
8:00pm – 10:00pm Alumni dinner spon-
sored by Berkeley Patients Group
Piola (1550 Wilson Blvd)
9:00am – 6:00pm Registration, Exhibi-
tor Hall, Free Meeting Space, and Job
Fair sponsored by NCIA
9:00am – 9:30am Breakfast
9:00am – 9:45am Breakfast discussion
with Eric Sterling
9:45am – 10:15am Opening keynote
speaker: Rob Kampia
10:30am – 11:45am Breakout sessions
• Movement + Industry: Maintaining
values in a post-prohibition world
• We’re Not Done Yet! The importance
of activism in the age of legalization
• How to be a better advocate: Commu-
nity Voice & Drug Policy
• From Grassroots to the UN, ending
the War on Drugs globally
12:00pm – 1:15pm Breakout sessions
• Media Relations 101 with the Experts
• Calling for Help Shouldn’t be a
Crime: Successful 911 Good Samaritan
Policy Strategies
• America’s Longest War: Fighting
drug prohibition then and now
1:30pm – 2:45pm Lunch (Congress II)
3:00pm – 4:15pm Breakout sessions
• Alumni in the Cannabis Industry I:
Working in the industry while further-
ing drug policy reform
9:00am – 6:00pm Registration, Exhibi-
tor Hall, Free Meeting Space, and Job
Fair sponsored by NCIA
9:00am – 9:30am Breakfast
9:00am – 9:45am Breakfast discussion
with Betty Aldworth
9:45am – 10:15am Opening keynote
speakers: Alyson Martin & Nushin Rashidian
10:30am – 11:45am Breakout sessions
• Live Music & Drugs: The Conversation
We Need to Be Having
• Unique Perspectives: The Hidden Con-
sequences of the War on Drugs
• From Students to Activists: Organiz-
ing to change policy
• LSSDP Presents Drug Policy Lawyer-
ing: Opportunities and Conflicts in an
Evolving Landscape
8:30am - 9:00am Lobby day briefing
and breakfast
9:30am-4:30pm Individual lobby
day meetings with elected officials on
Capitol Hill
SUNDAY: 09.28.2014
MONDAY: 09.29.2014
• Building a Legally Sustainable Can-
nabis Market
• Industrial Hemp: Advocacy and
legislation
• The Right on Drugs: Working with
new & old allies
4:30pm – 5:45pm Breakout sessions
• Alumni in the Cannabis Industry II:
Building an industry career out of your
reform work.
• Putting Down the Handcuffs: Steps
Towards Removing Criminal Penalties
for Drug Use & Possession in the U.S.
• Protecting Medical Marijuana Pa-
tients on Campus: A strategy for policy
change
6:00pm – 6:30pm Closing keynote
speaker: Troy Dayton
6:30pm – 8:30pm Outreach Recruitment
and Diversity Meet Up and Dinner
Melee Bistro
8:30pm – 9:30pm Awards ceremony
9:30pm – 1:00am Live music, dance party,
photo booth, cash bar
12:00pm – 1:15pm Breakout sessions
• When Diplomacy Fails: How to Fight
Back Against a Difficult Administration
• Online Organizing: Tools, tips, and
best practices
• Privilege and the War on Drugs
1:30pm – 2:45pm Lunch (History of
SSDP Plenary)
3:00pm – 4:15pm Breakout sessions
• Film the Police: Using Radical Tech-
nology to Watch the Watchers
• Women, Families, and the War on
Drugs
• What About the Children?: Families
and the War on Drugs
• How Harm Reduction is Helping to
End Homelessness
• Getting the Word Out: Tips for tak-
ing over campus media
4:30pm – 5:45pm Breakout sessions
• Lobby Day Training (Mandatory for
lobby day participants)
• Developing Sensible Careers:
Insights into SSDP’s career services
program and alumni association
6:00pm – 6:30pm Closing keynote
speaker: Neill Franklin
6:30pm – 7:30pm Closing Ceremonies
4
5
DETAILED CONFERENCE AGENDA
6
FRIDAY: 09.26.2014 5:00P - 8:00P
Registration
Promenade 2nd Floor Lobby
5:00P - 8:00P
Welcome Reception
Rosslyn Ballroom
Meet and greet reception for all confer-
ence attendees.
8:00P - 10:00P
SSDP Student Congress - Part I
Rosslyn Ballroom
During SSDP Congress: Part I, attendees
will be introduced to the student candi-
dates running to serve on SSDP’s Board
of Directors. The candidates running for
Student Director positions on the Board
will deliver brief speeches, followed by
a question and answer session in which
students, SSDP staff, and current board
members will ask the candidates ques-
tions regarding their qualifications to
serve on the Board. It is strongly en-
couraged that all students attend this
Congress session and get to know the
candidates, as students in active SSDP
chapters will be voting on their top choic-
es for Board members the following day.
8:00P - 10:00P
Alumni Dinner
Sponsored by Berkeley Patients Group
Piola (restaurant) 1550 WIlson Blvd,
Arlington, VA
SSDP Alumni conference attendees are
invited to join us in celebrating SSDP’s 16
years of outstanding alumni. This year’s
dinner is sponsored by Berkeley Pa-
tients Group and will take place at Piola
Restaurant in downtown Arlington, VA at
8pm. You won’t want to miss this warm,
intergenerational gathering of friends!
SATURDAY: 09.27.2014
9:00A - 9:30A
Breakfast
--
Rosslyn Ballroom
9:00A - 9:45A
Breakfast with Eric Sterling
Eric Sterling
Rosslyn Ballroom
Join legendary drug policy reformer
Eric Sterling in the ballroom for break-
fast, where he will answer questions and
discuss topics of particular interest to
attendees -- and Eric -- in an informal,
broad-ranging conversation.
9:45A - 10:15A
Opening Keynote: The Future of
Marijuana Legalization
Rob Kampia
Rosslyn Ballroom
Rob Kampia will provide a window to
the future of Marijuana Policy Project’s
marijuana campaigns over the next four
years. Rob will discuss both the easier-
to-predict ballot initiatives and the more
tenuous state legislative efforts poised
to pass marijuana-related legislation
through 2017. Also, Rob will discuss when
he expects Congress will change federal
law -- and why.
10:30A - 11:45A
Movement & Industry: Maintaining re-
form values in a post-prohibition world
Betty Aldworth, Troy Dayton, Steve Fox,
Kris Krane, Kris Lotlikar
Shenandoah Suite
The “next great American industry”
started modestly enough, with infused
brownies delivered, free of charge, to
people dying from HIV/AIDS and cancer
in San Francisco in the 1980’s. Thirty
years later, the legal marijuana indus-
try -- born from the movement built in
a home kitchen -- boasts thousands of
businesses, tens of thousands of employ-
ees, millions of patients and consumers,
and an annual market estimated to reach
$2.5 billion in 2014. This panel will explore
the intersections and contradictions of
the marijuana policy reform movement
and the legal marijuana industry. How
does the marijuana industry contribute to
movement goals, and how might it hold
us back? Does the industry really fulfill
the promise of a post-prohibition world?
What can advocates and activists bring
to the marijuana industry to ensure it
upholds goals of reform? And how does
the movement protect itself from having
it’s goals usurped by industry?
We’re Not Done Yet! The importance of
activism in the age of legalization
Sabrina Fendrick, Kandice Hawes, Amber
Langston
Dogwood
As progress in the marijuana law reform
movement continues to grow, there is
a concern that interest and involve-
ment in reform work will start to dimin-
ish, but we’re not done yet - we’re just
getting started. This panel will compare
the scope and context of reform work
in different parts of the US, discuss how
advocacy is changing with the evolution
of progressive marijuana laws, and exam-
ine what we can do to support activists
working in states with overly restrictive,
punitive marijuana policies.
How to be a better advocate: Commu-
nity Voice and Drug Policy
Irina Alexander, Cyndee Clay, Nick Rosen-
berg, Kellen Russionello, Jasmine Tyler
Club
This session will discuss the importance
of community voice to drug policy reform
efforts. An issue facing many social jus-
tice movements is the failure to properly
involve the communities affected by the
injustices while we search for solutions.
The goal is to provide students with a
7
better understanding of how to appropri-
ately and meaningfully include commu-
nities affected by unjust drug policies
in the process of social change. Models
and real world examples will outline the
success of this practice. A discussion
of privilege, community empowerment,
diversity, and oppression will set stu-
dents on their path to greater community
impact.
From Grassroots to the UN, ending the
War on Drugs globally
Michael Krawitz, Ciaran Maher, Christian
Sederberg, Olivia Teehan
Georgetown
As much as domestic drug policy reform
can make tremendous differences in
individual countries, justice will not be
achieved until the global drug war is re-
placed with sensible policy. This session
is a look at the problems with, and ways
to challenge, the war on drugs globally.
Case studies from around the world, the
position of the United Nations Commis-
sion on Narcotic Drugs, and the opportu-
nities presented by the 2016 United Na-
tions General Assembly Special Session
will be discussed.
12:00P - 1:15P
Media Relations 101
Betty Aldworth, Tony Newman, Mike
Riggs, Mason Tvert
Shenandoah Suite
Messaging against the War on Drugs
is nuanced, complicated, and full of
potential pitfalls, but with a basic media
strategy, solid knowledge about the
ideas and arguments, and lots of prac-
tice, you can capture media attention on
campus and in your communities to help
push the envelope on any aspect of drug
policy reform. Hear from seasoned ex-
perts about crafting media strategies to
enhance your efforts, capturing earned
media, effective storytelling, rocking an
interview, and, of course, those moments
each of our panelists wish weren’t on
film.
Calling for Help Shouldn’t be a Crime:
Successful 911 Good Samaritan policy
strategies
Romain Bonilla, Rose Bono, Scott Cecil,
Jeremy Sharp
Dogwood
Overdose deaths are now the leading
cause of accidental deaths in the United
States. Twenty-one states and the Dis-
trict of Columbia have passed 911 Good
Samaritan, Medical Amnesty and/or Nal-
oxone Access laws in the past decade.
Recently, SSDP chapters have been
instrumental in helping legislators intro-
duce and ultimately enact these laws at
the state level and in pursuing similar
campus-level policy changes. This panel
will feature SSDP students who will share
their experiences having been an integral
part of these campaigns, from introduc-
ing legislation to legislators, building
political coalitions, lobbying in favor of
proposed legislation and pursuing public
awareness campaigns after implementa-
tion of these laws.
America’s Longest War: Fighting Drug
Prohibition Then and Now
Meredith Bragg, Lauren Galik, Ed
Krayewski, Katherine Mangu-Ward
Club
When the War on Drugs started in the
1970’s many groups who opposed the
senseless policy, like Reason, had few
weapons outside of print journalism with
which to offer criticism. However, rapid
advancements in technology generated
cutting edge mediums of communication
to reach new audiences and transform
public opinion. In this session, we’ll learn
how Reason and other advocacy groups
continue to fight against America’s
Longest War in print and online, through
video journalism, investigative reporting,
and public policy research.
1:30P - 2:45P
Lunch + SSDP Student Congress - Part II
--
Rosslyn Ballroom
During SSDP Congress: Part II, students
in active chapters will vote on their top
five choices to elect new Student Direc-
tors that will serve a two-year term on
SSDP’s Board of Directors. You must be
present at this Congress session in order
to vote (there will be an online voting
system, but only for active chapters who
cannot attend the conference). Addition-
ally, the Organizational Structure Evalua-
tion Committee (OSEC) of the Board will
be presenting the new proposed SSDP
bylaws, to be voted on by the student
body during this session. Active chapters
will also have the opportunity to propose
nonbinding resolutions to influence the
direction of the organization, if adopted
by the student body. Non-student at-
tendees are invited to quietly observe
Congress or pick up a box lunch and
find a place to eat nearby.
3:00P - 4:15P
Alumni in the Cannabis Industry I:
Working in the industry while further-
ing drug policy reform
Michael Blunk, Sam Chapman, Trevor
Hosterman, Kat Humphries, Sam Tracy
Shenandoah Suite
Want to join the new and expanding
legal marijuana industry? Learn from
SSDP alumni that work full-time manag-
ing award winning cultivation facilities,
changing medical and adult-use marijua-
na laws, and helping to build the next big
cannabis business! Speakers will discuss
the paths they took to get to where they
are today and how to leverage the SSDP
network to make valuable job connec-
tions. Throughout the discussion, alumni
will talk about how their day-to-day work
helps to create a responsible industry
that furthers their own personal goals in
drug policy reform.
Building a Legally Sustainable Cannabis
Market
Brandon Paroly, Josh Kappel, Khusihid
Khoja, Andrew Livingston, Mizti Vaughn
Dogwood
8
After college, many of us will start
careers in the burgeoning cannabis
industry, including running business
that provide cannabis and other ancil-
lary goods and services, and providing
legal services to those businesses. Here,
a member of Law Students for Sensible
Drug Policy will question four attorneys
about their roles in and advice for the
cannabis industry. What banking and
other federal regulatory enforcement is-
sues does the cannabis industry specially
face? What entity formation and busi-
ness licensing does the cannabis industry
specially face? What are current state
and federal lobbying issues, and what
are the next steps? What special corpo-
rate law and other considerations affect
attorneys advising cannabis business
clients? What advice do students need
for careers in the cannabis industry and
in business law?
Industrial Hemp Advocacy & Legislation
Ben Droz
Club
Industrial Hemp, the non-psychoactive
varieties of cannabis, has been grown
throughout human history, and American
history. Sales for hemp products in the
U.S. exceeded $580 million in 2012, for
high nutrition food products, building
materials, body care, and much more.
The past year has been monumental
for the hemp movement, since pass-
ing of Section 7606 of the Farm Bill, an
amendment that defines industrial hemp
and allows for pilot programs. Hear the
latest news and learn how to get involved
with Ben Droz, legislative liaison for Vote
Hemp.
The Right on Drugs: Working With New
& Old Allies
Lauren Galik, Ann Lee, Tim Lynch, Kat
Murti, Vikrant Reddy
Georgetown
Ending the War on Drugs is no longer ex-
clusively the purview of the left. As more
and more libertarians and conservatives
are brought into the drug policy reform
fold, the scope of proposed policy solu-
tions continues to widen. What initiatives
do activists and policy wonks from the
right support, where do the left and right
differ on drug policy, and how can these
newfound allies better collaborate on
this policy issue?
4:30P - 5:45P
Alumni in the Cannabis Industry II:
Building an industry career out of your
reform work
John Decker, Evan Eisenberg, Brian Gil-
bert, Andrew Livingston, Lauren Men-
delsohn, Evan Nison
Shenandoah Suite
Want to build a career in the new legal
marijuana industry? Learn from SSDP
alumni that work full-time creating can-
nabis edibles, changing medical and
adult-use marijuana laws, and represent-
ing businesses in statehouses and the
national’s capital! Speakers will discuss
the lessons they learned and how to
use SSDP connections to find jobs in
this exciting new field. Throughout the
discussion, panelists will talk about the
different ways they utilize skills gained
from SSDP and their drug policy reform
work towards a career in the expanding
cannabis economy.
Putting Down the Handcuffs: Steps To-
wards Removing Criminal Penalties for
Drug Use and Possession in the United
States
Kellen Russionello, Jeronimo Saldaña
Dogwood
Current U.S. drug policies have not only
failed to curb drug use but have also had
a devastating impact on families and
communities around the country. The
purpose of this presentation is to illus-
trate the tragic consequences of crimi-
nalizing drug use, and to highlight the
myriad benefits that eliminating criminal
penalties for minor possession and use
can offer U.S. communities. The presen-
tation will demonstrate that decriminal-
ization, when coupled with a substantial
expansion of effective health, social
support and drug treatment services,
can help minimize the health harms of
drug misuse, such as overdose, disease
and addiction, while substantially reduc-
ing the number of people swept into the
criminal justice system.
Protecting Medical Marijuana Patients
on Campus: A strategy for policy
change
Thalia Perez, Nick Rosenberg, Eric Ster-
ling, Tyler Vile
Club
In states where medical marijuana is
legal, universities have yet to provide
any protection or reasonable accommo-
dation for students that are legitimate
patients. Universities are currently con-
strained by a section of the Higher Edu-
cation Act that, if violated, could result
in the loss of substantial federal funding.
This session will provide a strategy for
implementing a reasonable accommo-
dation policy that will protect medical
marijuana patients from harsh university
sanctions in states with medical mari-
juana programs. The strategy intends
to consider the concerns of campus
administrations, but argues that in failing
to provide a reasonable accommodation
for patients, universities are discriminat-
ing based on ability.
6:00P - 6:30P
KEYNOTE: Please Finish Off Marijuana
Prohibition So We Can Focus On Larger
Injustices
Troy Dayton
Rosslyn Ballroom
SSDP co-founder Troy Dayton will
explore what it’s like to have an unpopu-
lar political opinion that changes to a
popular one. Most current SSDP student
members haven’t been advocates in a
time when cannabis policy reform was
unpopular, but know well how challeng-
ing it can be to advocate for other drug
policy reform issues. Cannabis policy can
be a beacon of hope for what might be
possible for other issues, so Troy will talk
about the inner life of the activist along
9
the various stages of acceptance of un-
popular views.
6:30P - 8:30P
Outreach Rectruitment and Diversity
(ORD) Dinner Meet-Up
--
Mele Bistro
Interested in broadening perspectives
in SSDP and the drug policy reform
movement? Join members of SSDP’s
Outreach, Recruitment & Diversity (ORD)
Committee at nearby restaurant Mele
Bistro (1723 Wilson Blvd., Arlington) for
an open conversation about outreach
to underrepresented stakeholders and
ORD’s role in facilitating diversity. Meet
us in the hotel lobby at 6:30 (after the
keynote) to walk or cab over together—or
join us on your own. All are welcome.
8:30P - 1:00A
Reception (Awards, Dance Party)
--
Rosslyn Ballroom
Join us in the ballroom for the SSDP
Awards Ceremony from 8:30-9:30, where
we’ll recognize members of the SSDP
network for their outstanding work.
Then, sing along and dance to an evening
of celebrating with a dance party and
live music. The Wets, a band comprised
of SSDP alumni, will perform high energy
covers of songs from the 60’s through
today. Take a photo in the photo booth
to commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime
experience! A cash bar will be available
for those 21 and older.
SUNDAY: 09.28.2014
9:00A - 9:30A
Breakfast
--
Rosslyn Ballroom
9:00A - 9:45A
Breakfast with Betty Aldworth
Betty Aldworth
Rosslyn Ballroom
Join SSDP executive director Betty Ald-
worth in the ballroom for breakfast, where
she will answer questions and discuss top-
ics of particular interest to attendees in an
informal, broad-ranging conversation.
9:45A - 10:15A
Keynote: Covering Cannabis
Alyson Martin, Nushin Rashidian
Rosslyn Ballroom
Nushin Rashidian and Alyson Martin, co-
authors of A New Leaf: The End of Can-
nabis Prohibition (The New Press, 2014),
will present a conversation called “Cover-
ing Cannabis.” They have a comprehen-
sive and vivid understanding of canna-
bis in the United States after traveling
30,000 miles by car, zig zagging across
the country to report for their book. They
will discuss how the media landscape
has changed in the past five years and
will share their experience as journalists
who have written about cannabis and
drug policy for The New York Times, The
Atlantic, The Nation, and Esquire, among
other outlets. www.anewleafbook.com
10:30A - 11:45A
Live Music and Drugs: The Conversation
We Need to Be Having
Brian Gilbert, Brooke Gilbert, Dede Gold-
smith, Mikayla Hellwich, Stefanie Jones
Shenandoah Suite
Whether it’s hip-hop, jam bands, EDM
or any other genre, we know that some
people choose to use drugs at live music
events. And yet it’s often incredibly diffi-
cult to share the information that people
need to stay safe. What drug laws and
policies are behind this attitude and what
can be done to change them? What
groups are already working in the field
at events and how can you get involved?
And what do you need to know to make
safer, healthier choices for yourself and
your friends when it comes to drug use
at live music events?
Unique Perspectives: The Hidden Con-
sequences of the War on Drugs
Anthony Belotti, Kat Murti, Jeronimno
Saldaña, Kylee Sunderlin, Eapen Thampy
Dogwood
Much of the fallout from the drug war
-- increased drug usage and violence,
decreased civil liberties -- has been well
documented, but not every negative side
effect of the War on Drugs has been giv-
en the attention it is properly due. This
panel will cover the intersection between
the War on Drugs and animal abuse,
asset forfeiture, immigration, parenting
rights, and more.
From Students to Activists: SSDP chap-
ter building tips from the experts
jake Agliata, Scott Cecil, Drew Stromberg
Club
SSDP’s Outreach Team will talk with stu-
dents about how to effectively organize
their chapters in order to enact policy
change on the campus, state, and nation-
al levels. Topics to be covered include:
recruiting & retaining chapter members,
engaging people on campus, relation-
ship and coalition building, resources
available to students, and where to start
when you want to enact policy change.
LSSDP Presents Drug Policy Lawyering:
Opportunities and conflicts in an evolv-
ing landscape
Jess Cochrane, Alex Kriet, Reid Murdoch,
Kellen Russionello, Jesse Stout, Rachelle
Yeung
Georgetown
Legal practitioners now have more op-
portunities than ever to push back on
prohibition. Criminal, health, family, cor-
porate/tax, housing and civil rights are
just a few of the legal fields that intersect
with drug policy. From nonprofit organiz-
ing and impact litigation to direct client
service, drug policy lawyering today has
many faces. Hear preeminent lawyers
from diverse backgrounds describe how
their respective practices relate to drug
policy reform. This panel is targeted to
current and prospective attorneys, law
students, and other legal professionals,
though all are welcome.
12:00P - 1:15P
When Diplomacy Fails: How to Fight
Back Against a Difficult Administration
Jake Agliata, Stacia Cosner, Catherine
Sevcenko, Sam Tracy
Shenandoah Suite
We’ve all been there: you’ve spent
months trying to build a positive relation-
ship with your campus administration,
but for one reason or another, they are
continuing to create nonsensical road-
blocks for your chapter. This session will
focus on what you can do when your
school’s administration is standing in
the way of your SSDP chapter’s forma-
tion, operation, and/or efforts to change
policy. Several SSDP students and alumni
who have experience dealing with these
issues will lead a discussion about how
chapters can overcome the challenges
posed by a difficult administration. We’ll
also hear from a representative from
FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights
in Education) about campus rights and
freedom of speech.
Online Organizing: tools, tips, and best
practices
Alec Foster, Kat Murti, Jon Perri, Drew
Stromberg
Dogwood
Attendees will learn about the key
components of a successful online
campaign and the tools that are avail-
able for scrappy activists and organiza-
tions. You’ll learn how to turn compelling
stories (the backbone of any campaign)
into online actions that not only increase
engagement and bring new supporters,
but have real impact.
Privilege and the War On Drugs
Stephanie Izquieta, Brooke Gilbert, Fran-
ces Fu, James Kowalsky, Rex Tai, Rachelle
Yeung
Club
Prohibition was originally meant to pro-
mote public safety, health and wellness;
yet the War on Drugs has criminalized
medical cannabis patients and dispro-
portionately impacted poor people of
color. Our drug policy reform move-
ment began in order to combat these
injustices; however, in doing so, we have
missed the ways in which drug policy
has historically benefited people with
race, socioeconomic, and able-bodied
privilege. People with more privilege are
more likely to serve as advocates and
not only avoid the harms of, but experi-
ence the benefits of, drugs and drug
policy. As a movement that prides itself
on diversity, social justice, and inclusion,
it will become increasingly important for
young SSDP activists to take steps to
ensure that their privileged voices being
used for good and that those with less
privilege are empowered, not erased by,
our movement.
1:30P - 2:45P
Lunch & History of SSDP plenary
Stacia Cosner, Dan Goldman, Shae
Gunther, Shawn Heller, Kris Krane, Kris
Lotlikar, Shaleen Title
Rosslyn Ballroom
Students for Sensible Drug Policy is a
16 year old organization with a long his-
tory of building the movement to end
the drug war. This panel will go back
to the early days of SSDP to examine
the circumstances that necessitated its
founding and show how it evolved to its
current form. Told through the stories of
how each panelist became involved in
the organization, this session will also be
recorded and broadcast as an episode of
the Marijuana Today podcast.
3:00P - 4:15P
Film the Police: Using Radical Technol-
ogy to Watch the Watchers
Neill Franklin, Steve Silverman
Shenandoah Suite
Drug policy reformers have long
sounded the alarm about the dangers of
police militarization. Ferguson pushed
the problem to the forefront of public
consciousness. The first half of this panel
examines how the drug war and post-9/11
security state advanced a warrior ethic
that views regular people as “the enemy.”
The second half explores what we can
do about it. Everyone with a smartphone
can expose police abuse that would have
previously gone unseen. Put your per-
sonal technology to the test to discover
the best practices for capturing and se-
curing video during high-intensity police
encounters.
Women, Families, and the War on Drugs
Betty Aldworth, Jess Cochrane, Frances
Fu, Sahra Kant, Kylee Sunderlin
Dogwood
One of the more overlooked conse-
quences of drug policies are the negative
impact they have on women and families.
Spanning child endangerment laws, opi-
ate overdose and Naloxone access, child
protection services, and incarcerated
mothers, there are a myriad of reasons
the War on Drugs has failed to protect
the rights and safety of women and their
families around the world. In this panel,
several women will share their experi-
ences and work they are doing to end
discrimination and protect women and
families in drug policy, with a discussion
about how students can bring awareness
to these issues.
Getting the Word Out: Tips for taking
over campus media
Jake Agliata, Lauren Mendelsohn, Jur-
riaan van den Hurk, Tyler Williams
Club
Whether it is radio, newspaper, TV, or
blogging, being involved with campus
media is a great way to get the word out
10
about your SSDP chapter and spread
news about drug policy around campus.
This panel will feature several current
and former chapter leaders who have
had success incorporating campus media
with their chapter’s activities. They will
share their experiences and advise other
students about how they can best utilize
campus media to the benefit of their
chapters.
How Harm Reduction is Helping to End
Homelessness
Irina Alexander, James Kowalsky, Mark
Schumann, Adam Schneider
Georgetown
Harm reduction is being used around our
country to engage, support, and house
the most vulnerable of people experi-
encing homelessness. The Housing First
Model (HFM) was developed to address
chronic homelessness and is a harm re-
duction approach to providing housing,
removing traditional barriers to housing
like active substance use, lack of income,
or criminal background. In addition to
being connected with permanent hous-
ing, clients are linked with supportive
services delivered from a harm reduction
approach. Beyond being a more compas-
sionate approach, these programs have
generated significant cost savings. Learn
about the role of harm reduction in the
fight to end homelessness.
4:30P - 5:45P
Lobby Day Training
Betty Aldworth, Mike Liszewski, Jasmine
Tyler
Shenandoah Suite
Lobby Day Training will provide basic
lobbying skills training including how to
run a meeting, how to build relationships
and create allies, and why it matters.
We’ll also discuss the specific bills we are
lobbying on, the Smarter Sentencing Act
and the Respect State Marijuana Laws
Act. This session will provide valuable
information for all attendees, and is
required for all students participating in
Lobby Day.
Developing Sensible Careers: Insights
into SSDP’s Career Services Program &
Alumni Association
Stacia Cosner, Dylan Schwartz, Victor
Pinho
Dogwood
This session will introduce alumni and
students to two of SSDP’s new pro-
grams: the Alumni Association and
Career Services. Together, these initia-
tives will improve career opportunities
and post-graduation activities, providing
alumni avenues to meaningfully continue
as advocates. Bringing together SSDP’s
mission of social justice with the socially
conscious cannabis industry has already
proven to be a success, and SSDP’s
career services program will increase
student involvement -- and sensible
reform ethics -- in the cannabis industry
and nonprofit sector through a cultivated
internship program and SSDP’s new job
board. And the coming Alumni Asso-
ciation will carry the SSDP experience
over to member’s post-graduation lives,
offering the same kind of networking and
advocacy student member value while
providing multiple paths to serve as
mentors and advisors.
6:00P - 6:30P
KEYNOTE: A Pathway to Ending Prohi-
bition
Neill Franklin
Rosslyn Ballroom
Across the globe, leaders are acknowl-
edging that prohibition has failed and
arguments in favor of alternatives -- from
decriminalization to regulation -- are
gaining traction at a faster pace than
many drug policy reformers imagined.
Using the framework of the recent Global
Commission on Drug Policy Report,
Taking Control: Pathways to Drug Poli-
cies that Work, Major Neill Franklin will
explore the nuances of sensible post-
prohibition policies, how we get there,
and the many important contributions
SSDPers can continue to make.
6:30P - 7:00P
Closing Ceremonies
Rosslyn Ballroom
Video messages from Ethan Nadelmann,
Executive Director of the Drug Policy Al-
liance and Rick Doblin, Executive Direc-
tor of the Multidisciplinary Association
for Psychedelic Studies will be screened.
Then, we’ll wrap up the conference with
brief remarks from the SSDP staff, select
stories from the conference, and a very
special surprise.
MONDAY: 09.29.2014
8:30A - 9:00A
Lobby Day Briefing + Breakfast
--
Rosslyn Ballroom
9:00A - 4:30P
Individual Lobby Day Meetings
With elected officials on Capitol Hill.
11
15
SPEAKER BIOS
Jake Agliata is SSDP’s Outreach Coor-
dinator for the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic,
Mountain, Pacific, and International
regions. He first got involved with drug
policy in 2011 when he co-founded the
SSDP chapter at Dickinson College,
eventually serving as president from 2012
to 2014. In his time at Dickinson, Jake led
several initiatives to fight back against
the administration’s harsh stance on
drug use on campus. He and his chapter
effectively organized the student body
through campus media to call out the
administration’s lack of transparency and
demand change to the school’s commu-
nity standards.
Betty Aldworth joined SSDP in February
2014 as Executive Director. Since 2009,
Betty has specialized in community
outreach, public relations, advocacy, and
policy reform as a consultant to can-
nabis-related businesses and nonprofit
organizations. Prior to her work in drug
policy and medical cannabis, she was a
volunteer leadership professional with
some of Denver’s most well-respected
nonprofit organizations. Betty served as
advocacy director for Colorado’s 2012
Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like
Alcohol--the collaborative committee
responsible for legalizing, taxing and
regulating marijuana for adults in Colora-
do--and was the Deputy Director of the
National Cannabis Industry Association in
2013, the organization’s breakthrough year.
Irina Alexander works as an Outreach
Counselor for At The Crossroads, an
organization in San Francisco that helps
unstably housed youth live happy and
healthy lives. Her roots in social justice
grew out of drug policy reform. When
she lived in DC, she served as the SSDP
National Board Chair from 2010-2012,
worked for the Criminal Justice Policy
Foundation, and volunteered as a team
leader for HIPS (Helping Individual Pros-
titutes Survive). She’s passionate about
all types of harm reduction, playing a role
in passing DC’s Good Samaritan Law while
also working with MAPS to support people
having difficult psychedelic experiences.
Anthony Bellotti is the founder of the
White Coat Waste Movement - a new
campaign to expose and eliminate the
waste, fraud, and abuse in the gov-
ernment’s $12 billion annual forced
taxpayer-funded animal experimenta-
tion budget. Bellotti has been honored
by Campaigns & Elections Magazine as
a Republican “Rising Star of Politics.”
He served as Executive Director of the
American Association of Political Con-
sultants and as Governor Schwarzeneg-
ger’s Senior Research Analyst, where he
managed opposition research, candidate
inoculation, and rapid-response research.
He’s also worked in a laboratory witness-
ing the harsh reality of modern animal
experimentation.
Michael Blunk handles much of the
business development for the ArcView
Group, the cannabis industry’s premier
hub for investment, data, and progress.
He oversees the process for companies
applying for funding and hoping to get
in front of their network of over 300 ac-
credited investors. His involvement with
SSDP started it all, where he founded a
chapter at the University of Houston in
2008, and was later elected to the Board
of Directors for national SSDP. During his
second term, he was chosen to serve as
Chair of the Board, and led the executive
search committee for a new executive
director.
Romain Bonilla is a French activist
studying Communications at Portland
State University. Before moving to the
United States in 2008, Romain lived in
France, the Netherlands, and Morocco.
In 2009, he founded SSDP at St Cloud
State University. Since 2011, Romain
has served as the founding director of
Portland State SSDP, focusing on harm
reduction, drug education, and sensible
policy reform. More recently, he has
worked to promote student interests
online through Student Net Alliance, a
network of students fighting for a free
and open Web.
Rose Bono works as a research assistant
in the Department of Healthcare Policy &
Research at Virginia Commonwealth Uni-
versity, where she is pursuing a Master’s
in Public Health. She held office in VCU’s
SSDP chapter in each of her under-
graduate years, most recently conclud-
ing a 2-year term as co-president. Last
legislative session, Rose convinced her
Virginia legislative delegate to introduce
a statewide medical amnesty bill, which
gained bipartisan support. It is being con-
sidered in the upcoming Virginia Legisla-
tive session.
Meredith Bragg is a video journalist and
managing editor at Reason TV. Prior to
joining Reason he worked at C-SPAN,
washingtonpost.com, and ABC News. His
work has been seen on FOX, CNN, NBC,
ABC, PBS, Comedy Central, and numer-
ous other television outlets. He’s won a
documentary award from George Lucas,
produced a cat video that was projected
on the side of a bridge in St. Petersburg,
Russia, and recently screened a short
film at the Cannes Film Festival.
Scott Cecil currently serves as the Out-
reach Coordinator for SSDP’s Heartland,
Midwest, Southeast and Southwest
regions. He first became involved with
SSDP when he co-founded the first
SSDP chapter in the State of Arizona in
2011. There are now six thriving SSDP
chapters in Arizona and he was involved
with helping to form each one. Scott was
elected to the SSDP Board of Directors
in 2013 where he served as the Chair of
the Advisory Council Committee before
stepping down to join the SSDP staff in
the summer of 2014.
Sam Chapman is one of the two co-
authors of House Bill 3460 that legalized
and regulated medical marijuana dis-
pensaries in the 2013 legislative session.
Since then, Sam founded New Economy
Consulting, a consulting firm in Portland
Oregon that provides cannabis investors
with services including identifying viable
real estate, acquiring start up capital,
navigating the regulatory process, and
lobbying local municipalities to ensure
workable regulations fit client needs.
Sam got his start in drug policy reform
by initiating a SSDP chapter at the Uni-
versity of Oregon in 2009 and has been
engaged in both activism and business
side of the cannabis industry ever since.
Cyndee Clay, Executive Director of HIPS,
16
17
has advocated for, by and with individu-
als engaged in sex work or sex for gain
with since 1995. She has developed harm
reduction based programs and pro-
vided technical assistance and training
for medical and social service providers
both in the U.S. and internationally on
topics including HIV Prevention, LGBT
Sensitivity, Sex Work and Harm Re-
duction. Cyndee served as foundation
representative on the Ms. Foundation’s
first collaborative for Healthy Girls/
Healthy Women, and serves on Wash-
ington DC’s Community HIV Prevention
Planning Group, and the Health Depart-
ment’s working group on Substance Use
and HIV, and represents the District of
Columbia on the national Urban Coalition
of HIV/AIDS Prevention Services.
Jess Cochrane is a JD/MPH student at
Northeastern University School of Law
and Tufts University School of Medicine.
She is an alumna of AmeriCorps NYC
Community HealthCorps and co-founded
NUSL SSDP. In 2013, Jess completed her
MPH capstone, “Mandated Reporting of
Substance-Exposed Newborns in an Era
of Changing Marijuana Laws,” with Na-
tional Advocates for Pregnant Women.
She is co-founder of Family Law & Can-
nabis Alliance (FLCA) and has worked in
community health centers, legal services
agencies, and public defenders’ offices.
She is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese
and passionate about language access,
reproductive justice, and policies to sup-
port families in diverse urban communities.
Stacia Cosner loves her job working as
Deputy Director for Students for Sen-
sible Drug Policy in Washington, DC. Her
areas of responsibility include manage-
ment, finances, administration, event
planning, program implementation,
development, communication, and data.
On Wednesdays during the summer, you
can find Stacia playing softball on the
national mall as co-captain of The One
Hitters, a co-ed congressional league
softball team comprised of DC drug
policy reformers and friends.
Troy Dayton was formerly the Marijuana
Policy Project’s top fundraiser and lead
liaison to the legal cannabis industry. The
dues paying members of MPP recently
elected Troy to the board with more
than 75% of the vote in a 3-way race. He
co-founded Students for Sensible Drug
Policy (now on over 200 campuses), and
helped launch and serve as the first sales
director at Renewable Choice Energy
(recently named the #1 green power
provider by the EPA). He is a founding
board member of the National Cannabis
Industry Association. In his spare time
Troy enjoys singing karaoke and planning
and blogging about Burning Man.
John Decker SSDP Alumnus John
Decker works for Mountain Medicines,
one of Colorado’s top infused edibles
production company as a chocolatiere
and production artist. In 2010, John
served as the GOTV Field Coordinator
for SSDP during California’s Proposition
19 referendum. John has been involved
with the drug policy reform movement
and SSDP since 2006, when he joined his
SSDP chapter at the University of Mary-
land. There he served as Outreach chair,
Vice President, and Overall Good Dude.
Ben Droz was not unlike you - a passion-
ate college student hungry for change.
An internship with Vote Hemp turned
into a job out of college, and Ben has
been working on hemp in Congress ever
since. Ben regularly meets with Congres-
sional staff, corresponds with activists
and volunteers around the country, and
works on strategy implementation to
educate about the differences between
hemp and marijuana. Ben graduated
from Goucher College in 2009 and cur-
rently resides in Washington, DC.
Evan Eisenberg is a consultant to Florida
cannabusiness Medical Alternative Solu-
tions (MAS). Evan began working for
MAS after graduating from the University
of South Florida, where he worked for
the Wellness Center developing alcohol
and other drug peer education materials.
In 2012, Evan founded and was elected
president of the USF SSDP chapter,
helping develop a 911 Good Samaritan
Policy. Evan was elected to SSDP’s board
of directors in October 2013 and focuses
on fundraising for SSDP’s national office.
Evan serves as a national staff member
for the AMPLIFY Project, bringing harm
reduction and policy reform information
to live music events.
Sabrina Fendrick serves as the Direc-
tor of Strategic Partnerships for the
Washington DC-based National Orga-
nization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws (NORML). She recently moved to
Denver, Colorado to open NORML’s first
satellite office, and dually serves as the
chapter coordinator for the southeast
and western regions of the country.
In 2010 she established the NORML
Women’s Alliance, and remains com-
mitted to empowering female activists
and entrepreneurs in the movement and
industry. Sabrina has been quoted in
several national and international news
publications including the AP, Fortune
Magazine, the Washington Post, and the
London Times. She is a member of the
SSDP Advisory Council and serves on the
Advisory Board for the Marijuana Majority.
Alec Foster is an activist engineer in
San Francisco, California. Named NYU’s
“Most Influential Student” and “Future
Most Notable Alumni” for his harm re-
duction evangelism, Alec is a rising star
of networked advocacy. He is a member
of the Board of Directors of Students for
Sensible Drug Policy, and co-founded
the chapter at New York University in
2010. He is the co-founder and Execu-
tive Director of Student Net Alliance, an
international movement of digital rights
activists on college campuses. Alec is a
Technology Strategist at Google, where
he develops scalable solutions across
internal platforms.
Steve Fox is the director of VS Strate-
gies, a lobbying affiliate of the Vicente
Sederberg law firm in Denver, Colorado.
In 2010, he co-founded the National
Cannabis Industry Association based on
the belief that the industry needed direct
representation in Washington, DC. More
recently, he co-founded the Council on
Responsible Cannabis Regulation, which
is dedicated to promoting responsible
regulation at the state level. Steve also
co-founded SAFER, a Colorado-based
organization dedicated to educating the
public about the relative harms of mari-
18
juana and alcohol. And in 2011-2012, he
co-drafted Amendment 64 and managed
the history-making campaign for the
Marijuana Policy Project.
Major Neill Franklin, executive director
of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
(LEAP), is a 33-year police veteran who
led multi-jurisdictional anti-narcotics
task forces for the Maryland State Police
and ran training for the Baltimore Police
Department. After seeing several of his
law enforcement friends killed in the line
of fire while enforcing drug policies, Neill
realized he needed to work to change
these laws that cause so much harm but
do nothing to reduce drug use.
Frances Fu is a senior at Northwestern
University studying Social Policy with
a minor in Business Institutions. She
re-founded the Northwestern chapter
of Students for Sensible Drug Policy her
freshman year (2011). Through SSDP, she
found an internship with Tetzlaff Law Of-
fices and helps write and review applica-
tions for cannabis cultivation centers and
dispensary licenses. Some of you may
know her as “The Drug Policy Dealer,”
but offline, she serves on Northwestern
University’s Alcohol Coalition, Campus
Coalition on Sexual Violence, and is
the current Panhellenic President. This
upcoming year, she is hoping to write
her senior thesis on something related to
drug policy and is looking for good ideas!
Lauren Galik is the Director of Criminal
Justice Reform at Reason Foundation, a
nonprofit libertarian think-tank that pub-
lishes Reason magazine, Reason.com,
and Reason TV. Her work focuses on a
variety of issues including (but not lim-
ited to) prison reform, drug policy, and
sentencing reform – particularly at the
state level. Lauren graduated from The
Ohio State University with a B.A. in Politi-
cal Science and International Relations.
Brian Gilbert works as the Events Coor-
dinator at the National Cannabis Industry
Association, the only trade association
representing cannabis businesses on the
national level. He got his start in drug
policy after helping to found SSDP at
VCU in Richmond, VA in 2009. Brian
joined SSDP’s live music activism based
side-project the AMPLIFY Project in 2010
as an Outreach Coordinator transform-
ing it over four years into a leading voice
for drug policy reform & harm reduction
within the live music community. In addi-
tion to his work with NCIA and AMPLIFY,
Brian also sits on the Board of Directors
of DanceSafe.
Brooke Gilbert is the director of events
& education for the National Cannabis
Industry Association. Prior to joining
NCIA, Brooke served as the Outreach
and Events Coordinator for medical can-
nabis patient-advocacy group Americans
for Safe Access, where she facilitated
the organization’s first national confer-
ence. Brooke has also been instrumental
in program development as an intern
for Students for Sensible Drug Policy,
where she coordinated the first round of
mentors & mentees of the Sister-to-Sister
program and continues to volunteer as
the director of development & special
projects for the AMPLIFY project. Addi-
tionally, she sits on the board of direc-
tors for the non-profit harm reduction
organization DanceSafe. Brooke cur-
rently resides in Denver, Colorado with
her husband Brian and dog Lola.
Dan Goldman is the only person in SSDP
to have attended every national confer-
ence. Since 1999, he has been an active
chapter leader, student and non-student
Board member, Director of Outreach
and Alumni in 2005-2006, and since
last December, is once again serving in
a non-student capacity on the Board of
Directors. He is the founder of leGAYlize
It!, the nation’s only LGBT-specific drug
policy reform organization and currently
works with the New York Cannabis Alli-
ance as the Director of Community Rela-
tions. He is thrilled to be a regular guest
on Marijuana Today and hopes you’ll all
give a listen to Never Stop Exploring, a
new, long form interview podcast with
SSDP’s and drug policy reform’s most
dynamic leaders, past and present.
Dede Goldsmith, mother of Shelley
Goldsmith, has already collected over
1,000 signatures on her petition website,
AmendTheRaveAct.org, launched on
August 31, 2014. She plans to take the
petition along with proposed amend-
ments to the RAVE Act to Congress this
fall. Goldsmith says the RAVE Act is no
longer relevant to today’s EDM festivals
and concerts. Instead, she says it stands
in the way of event organizers taking
steps to make their venues safer for the
hundreds of thousands of young people
who regularly attend them.
Shea Gunther founded the Rochester
Cannabis Coalition at the Rochester
Institute of Technology in New York in
1997, which became the first chapter of
SSDP the following year. Since then he’s
worked in the fields of technology and
media and most recently returned to the
world of drug policy as producer and co-
founder of the hit podcast “Marijuana To-
day” along with fellow panelist Kris Lotlikar.
Kandice Hawes is the current President
of California State University Fullerton
Students for Sensible Drug Policy and is
a Public Administration and Political Sci-
ence double major. In 2001, after losing
her financial aid due to a drug charge,
she founded the Orange County chapter
of NORML in 2003. Eleven years later,
OC NORML now has hundreds of mem-
bers who attend meetings and thousands
who receive email updates. Hawes is also
the Principal Officer of a Political Action
Committee that is running a measure on
the November 2014 Santa Ana ballot to
regulate the medical marijuana collectives.
Shawn Heller is a civil rights and criminal
defense attorney. In 2012 Shawn, along
with Joshua Glickman, formed the Social
Justice Law Collective. Shawn has been
actively working for drug policy reform
since 1998, and was one of the found-
ers of SSDP. After graduating college,
Shawn served as SSDP’s Executive
Director from 2000 through 2003. Since
then, Shawn has served the organization
as a Board member, advisor, and mentor.
Shawn holds a J.D. from Georgetown
University Law Center and a B.A. from
George Washington University. During
college he served in the White House
as an intern for the Deputy Director for
Political Affairs.
19
Mikayla Hellwich graduated in Spring
2014 from the University of Maryland and
has been an active member and chap-
ter leader within Students for Sensible
Drug Policy since 2010. Since becom-
ing involved with SSDP she has taken
a deeper interest in live music and how
drugs, harm reduction, and personal
safety shape the experience. She hopes
that highlighting her experiences as a
reformer and live event participant can
help re-shape the conversations we’re
all having about substances and foster
safer, more compassionate communities
for partiers. Earlier this year she interned
for the Director of Media Relations at
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
and has since gained a full-time position
there. Mikayla lives in Washington D.C.
with her python Sterling.
Trevor Hosterman is the head grower
and cultivation manager for Good Meds
Network. He began working with Good
Meds in August of 2012 after relocating
from South Eastern Pennsylvania to Den-
ver, Colorado. Before becoming a Colo-
rado transplant, Trevor attended West
Chester University of Pennsylvania where
he co-founded a chapter of Students for
Sensible Drug Policy in late 2009. Since
graduation, Trevor has remained actively in-
volved with SSDP by volunteering with their
side project: The AMPLIFY Project. Current-
ly, he volunteers with AMPLIFY as a national
outreach and merchandise coordinator.
Kat Humphries is a legal assistant at
Vicente Sederberg. She joined Vicente
Sederberg in 2013 after spending a year
working as a legal clerk for an intellectual
property law firm focusing on patents
and trademarks. Kat became involved in
drug policy in 2010 when she founded
a chapter of Students for Sensible Drug
Policy at the College of Charleston. In
college, she changed marijuana policies
at a collegiate level, expanded the Col-
lege’s Good Samaritan Policy, interned
with the 9th Circuit Solicitor’s Office’s
Juvenile Arbitration program, and served
as the chairwoman of the College’s
judicial board for two years. Currently,
Kat sits on Students for Sensible Drug
Policy’s Board of Directors.
Stephanie Izquieta is a senior at Bing-
hamton University majoring in Philoso-
phy, Politics, & Law. She interned this
past summer at the Drug Policy Alliance
and is the founder and current chapter
leader of Binghamton’s SSDP chapter.
While at Binghamton she joined the
TEDx executive board and helped orga-
nize one of the largest academic TEDx
events among thousands in over eighty
countries around the world, with an audi-
ence of nearly 1,300 students, faculty,
and community members. Stephanie also
serves on the Board for the Student Net
Alliance and is a Google Student Ambas-
sador for her University.
Stefanie Jones is nightlife community
engagement manager at the Drug Policy
Alliance, based in New York. In this role
she introduces harm reduction principles
and drug policy alternatives to party-
goers, public health officials and city
nightlife regulators across the U.S. In
her prior role within the organization as
event manager she produced four pro-
gressively larger editions of the biennial
International Drug Policy Reform Confer-
ence, as well as numerous local policy
conferences, fundraisers and coalition-
building meetings.
Rob Kampia co-founded the Marijuana
Policy Project in 1995 and has served as
its executive director ever since. Rob is
the architect of most of the state-level
marijuana laws that have been enacted
in the United States since 2000, includ-
ing the historic 2012 campaign to legalize
marijuana in Colorado, and numerous
decriminalization and medical marijuana
laws. Rob has provided fiery testimony
before Congress twice, as well as testify-
ing before nine state legislatures. Rob
grew up in Harleysville, Pennsylvania;
served three months in a county jail for
growing marijuana for personal use; was
elected student body president of Penn
State University; and graduated with
honors in 1993.
Sahra Kant Sara Arnold, aka Sahra Kant,
is a hard-working drug policy advocate
and activist committed to ending the
persecution of pregnant women and
parents (of all genders) for cannabis
use in criminal or civil matters. She is
Co-Founder of Family Law & Cannabis
Alliance (FLCA) and is currently on the
leadership committee of SSDP’s Out-
reach, Recruitment & Diversity Commit-
tee (ORD) where she is Vice-Chair. Sara
is the mother of two little girls and lives
in central Massachusetts. She has faced
CPS three times (thus far) for her medi-
cal marijuana use.
Joshua Kappel is a partner at Vicente
Sederberg LLC, a national law firm dedi-
cated to the intersection of marijuana
policy, government relations, and busi-
ness law with a focus on the interplay of
state, federal, and international marijua-
na laws. Mr. Kappel graduated from the
University of Denver, Sturm College of
Law. While in law school, Josh received
both the Patton Boggs Public Policy
Fellowship and the Public Interest Law
Clerkship to work for Sensible Colorado.
Josh also interned with the National
ACLU’s Drug Law Reform Project, the
Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, and was
founder of Students for Sensible Drug
Policy of Truman State University.
Khurshid Khoja is Principal at Green-
bridge Corporate Counsel, a business
law firm which represents clientele from
across the legal cannabis industry. Khur-
shid currently serves on the founding
Board of the California Cannabis Industry
Association and the Illinois Cannabis In-
dustry Association. While serving as The
ArcView Group’s first General Counsel,
Khurshid helped ArcView CEO Troy Dayton
launch the ArcView Angel Network (AAN)
— providing advice on securities laws com-
pliance, drafting membership and other
critical path agreements. Khurshid earned
his J.D. at the University of California,
Berkeley School of Law, where he served as
President of the Class of 2001.
James Kowalsky (SSDP Alum: North-
western 2009) is the Engagement Ser-
vices & Practice Enhancement Specialist
at Heartland Health Outreach (HHO) in
Chicago, IL. As an outreach worker with
the HHO PATH Team, James works with
people who are homeless to link them to
housing, healthcare services, and other
resources. He incorporates harm reduc-
20
tion into his work with clients engaged
in potentially risky behaviors like drug
use, sexual activity and interpersonal
conflicts. In addition to outreach work,
James facilitates trainings and provides
support to organizations which are
adapting their practices to incorporate
harm reduction, housing first, motivational
interviewing, and trauma-informed care.
Kris Krane serves as a Principal and
Managing Partner at 4Front Advisors,
a medical cannabis dispensary consult-
ing firm. Kris has dedicated his career
to reforming the nation’s failed and
misguided drug policies, having served
as associate director of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana
Laws from 2000-2005 and executive
director of Students for Sensible Drug
Policy from 2006-2009. During this
time the organization experienced rapid
chapter growth, and led a successful
campaign to convince members of Con-
gress to scale back the HEA Aid Elimina-
tion Penalty, the law that automatically
denies federal financial aid to students
with drug convictions. Kris currently sits
on the national board of directors of the
National Cannabis Industry Association
and Common Sense for Drug Policy, as
well as the advisory council for Students
for Sensible Drug Policy. He also served
as Associate Editor of See Change Strat-
egy’s first of its kind medical marijuana
market report in 2011 and the ArcView
Market Research Report follow up in
2013, which analyzed the value of the
retail medical marijuana market.
Michael Krawitz is a United States Air
Force Veteran. He is the Executive Direc-
tor of Veterans for Medical Cannabis
access and is on the board of advisers of
Patients out of Time, a medical cannabis
patient advocacy organization. Michael
has become a leading voice for Drug
policy reform advocacy at the United Na-
tions Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
Ed Krayewski is an associate editor of
Reason 24/7 at Reason.com. Before join-
ing Reason, he was an associate produc-
er for FreedomWatch with Judge Napoli-
tano, a media producer for Fox News and
Fox Business, and an assistant producer
at NBC Learn. He spent two years as a
Seventh Grade Language Arts & Social
Studies teacher in his native Newark be-
fore completing an M.S. in Journalism at
Columbia University. He translated his fa-
ther’s novel Skyliner, about life in Eastern
Europe in the aftermath of World War 2.
Ed completed a B.S. and M.A. in Interna-
tional Relations at Seton Hall University.
Alex Kreit is an Associate Professor and
Director of the Center for Law and Social
Justice at Thomas Jefferson School of
Law. Alex was a member of the found-
ing Board of Directors of Students for
Sensible Drug Policy and served on
SSDP’s Board from 1999 to 2005 and
again from 2010 to 2012. He is author
of the casebook Controlled Substances:
Crime, Regulation, and Policy (Carolina
Academic Press, 2013) and co-author of
the reference book Drug Abuse and the
Law Sourcebook (with Gerald F. Uelmen)
(West, 2013 (updated annually)).”
Amber Iris Langston lives in Kansas City,
Missouri, where she serves as a Board
Director for Show-Me Cannabis, leading
Missouri marijuana legalization educa-
tion efforts as Executive Director of the
national 501c3 organization American
Victory Foundation. Amber previously
served on the Board of Directors, and
later as outreach director and interna-
tional liaison, for SSDP. Amber was then
media liaison for Prop 19 in California in
2010, and worked briefly with Americans
for Safe Access as a field coordinator.
Amber has a particular passion for the
intersection of drug policy with issues of
gender and race, which is the focus of
her current work.
Ann Edwards Lee grew up in Ponchatou-
la, Louisiana. After finishing Ponchatoula
High School, she entered The University
of Texas. There she met Bob Lee, who
not only made her a Texan but a Repub-
lican! They were married in 1951, have
lived in Houston since 1956, and have 5
sons, 4 granddaughters and 2 “greats”. In
1990, the Lee’s fourth son, Richard, had
an accident that made him a paraplegic.
When Richard told them that marijuana
was good for him, they had to accept the
fact that our government had been ly-
ing about marijuana. Since that time the
Lees have dedicated much of their time
and resources to educating on the evils
of the Drug War.
Mike Liszewski, JD, is Government
Affairs Director at Americans for Safe
Access. He spent his early career as a
community organizer forming after-
school youth programs in southeast Bal-
timore, MD. Mike has successfully lobbied
in DC, Maryland, and elsewhere to help:
approve and improve medical marijuana
laws; pass Good Samaritan legislation;
and block anti-community “gang injunc-
tion” legislation. Federally, he was the
part of the lobbying effort that earned
the first successful medical marijuana
vote in Congress. Beyond his work at
ASA, Mike advocates for DC statehood,
plays guitar in SWALTB, and pitches for
the One Hitters softball team.
Andrew Livingston serves as a policy
analyst for Vicente Sederberg and a
contract researcher for ArcView Group
where he does policy and market re-
search for cannabis businesses. He first
worked alongside Vicente Sederberg in
2012 during the Amendment 64 cam-
paign in Colorado. Andrew started in
drug policy while at Colgate University
and founded a chapter of Students for
Sensible Drug Policy in 2009. During this
time he focused his academic studies on
the economics of illegal markets and the
harms they create for societies around
the world. In October, Andrew was appoint-
ed by the Colorado Department of Revenue
to a panel determining interim production
caps for the new marijuana industry.
Kris Lotlikar is President of one of the
leading renewable energy companies
in the U.S. which won the Green Power
Supplier of the Year award from the
EPA in 2013. His business has over 50
Fortune 500 clients and he is advisor to
numerous clean technology companies
and sits on the new innovators council
at the World Resource Institute. Kris is
also host of Marijuana Today, a podcast
provider serious discussion and analysis
of marijuana business and politics. He
was a founder and National Director of
Student for Sensible Drug Policy and sits
21
on the Board of Directors for the League
of Young Voters, the Flex Your Rights
Foundation and the Arcview Group, the
nation’s leading marijuana industry in-
vestment and research organization.
Tim Lynch is Director of Cato’s Project
on Criminal Justice. Under his direction,
Cato has become a leading voice in sup-
port of the Bill of Rights and civil liber-
ties. In 2000, he served on the National
Committee to Prevent Wrongful Execu-
tions. Lynch has also filed several amicus
briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in cases
involving constitutional rights. He is the
editor of In the Name of Justice: Leading
Experts Reexamine the Classic Article
“The Aims of the Criminal Law” and After
Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug
Policies in the 21st Century. Tim also
blogs extensively at the Cato Institute’s Na-
tional Police Misconduct Reporting Project.
Ciarán Maher is the Executive Director
of NORML Ireland national chapter, and
Chapter Leader with SSDP at the Na-
tional University of Ireland, Galway.
Katherine Mangu-Ward is managing
editor of Reason magazine. She writes
about food, space, and education for
Reason and Reason.com. Mangu-Ward
is a 2013-2014 Future Tense fellow at the
New America Foundation. Previously,
she worked as a reporter for The Weekly
Standard magazine and as a researcher
at The New York Times op-ed page. Her
work has appeared in The Wall Street
Journal, The Washington Post, The Los
Angeles Times, The New York Times
online, and numerous other publica-
tions. Mangu-Ward is a graduate of Yale
University, where she received a B.A.
in political science and philosophy. She
lives in Washington, D.C.
Alyson Martin is an award-winning
journalist, a photographer, and an editor.
She focuses on investigative journalism,
health reporting, and drug policy. Her
work has been published by the New
York Times, The Nation, The Atlantic, the
Albany Times Union, the Ithaca Journal
and the 2011 edition of the book Our
Bodies, Ourselves. Martin is a graduate of
the Columbia University Graduate School
of Journalism. She is a lifelong Yankees fan.
Lauren Mendelsohn is a second-year
student at the University of California,
Irvine School of Law. This summer she
worked as a law clerk for a corporate
cannabis firm. Miss Mendelsohn founded
a chapter of LSSDP during her first year
at UCI, which has already become on of
the most active student groups at the
law school. Under her leadership, UCI
LSSDP was chosen to host a major sym-
posium in Spring 2015. Miss Mendelsohn
was heavily influenced by SSDP during
her undergraduate career at the Univer-
sity of Maryland, where she served as
President and later Outreach Director for
the chapter.
Amanda Muller got involved with SSDP
in November of 2010, when she joined
the Florida State University chapter as
a college sophomore. Amanda and the
FSU chapter members were the impetus
for ensuring the successful passing and
promotion of FSU’s Medical Amnesty
Policy in 2012. She was additionally in-
volved in collaborating with SSDP chap-
ters throughout the state to advocate
for Florida’s 911 Good Samaritan Act.
Amanda has worked with government
health departments, cannabis consulting
firms and harm reduction organizations to
advocate for more sensible policies, includ-
ing drug overdose and infectious disease
prevention, primarily in the U.S. South.
Reid Murdoch is a student at the Univer-
sity of Michigan Law School. He founded
the Michigan LSSDP chapter in Fall 2013.
Reid spent his 1L summer working for
the ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project
in NYC, and is focusing his studies on
criminal defense.
Kat Murti is Digital Marketing Manager
at the Cato Institute and a member of
SSDP’s Board of Directors. She currently
serves as chair of the Outreach, Recruit-
ment, and Diversity Committee. Kat has
been actively involved with SSDP since
January 2009 and was named an Alumni
All Star in December of 2010 and a
Spotlighted Alum in January of 2012. Kat
first became involved with drug policy
in 2007 when she joined the Dallas-
Fort Worth chapter of NORML. She
served as Bay Area Regional Director
of California’s Proposition 19 campaign
and has worked at the Criminal Justice
Policy Foundation. Kat is a graduate of
UC:Berkeley and Oaksterdam.
Tony Newman is director of media
relations for the Drug Policy Alliance, a
position he has held since 2000. New-
man has more than 20 years of public
relations experience. Before joining the
organization, he was the media director
for the human rights organization Global
Exchange and co-founded the public
relations firm Communication Works.
Newman received his B.A. from the Uni-
versity of California Santa Cruz.
Evan Nison is the Executive Director of
NORML New Jersey and Director of East
Coast Cannabis Division for Terra Tech
(TRTC), a sustainable agricultural com-
pany looking to enter the marijuana in-
dustry. In New York he is the Co-Founder
and Director of the NY Cannabis Alli-
ance, which has helped craft the marijua-
na legalization bill and worked closely on
the Compassionate Care Act campaign.
He was also President of Ithaca Students
for Sensible Drug Policy for 4 years,
which was rated the #1 college drug law
reform chapter in the country in 2011.
Brandon Paroly is a third-year student
at George Washington University Law
School, and is current president of GW
Law SSDP. Brandon works at LawIQ, a le-
gal analytics firm, and has a background
in financial regulatory law and hedge
fund consulting. He is also a cum laude
graduate of the University of Pennsylva-
nia and president of the alumni club.
Jonathan Perri is the Deputy Campaigns
Director at Change.org, the largest
online campaigns platform in the world
with more than 75 million users. Jon
has helped craft strategy for some of
the largest and most successful online
campaigns in the world. Previously,
Jon served as the Associate Director of
Students for Sensible Drug Policy from
2008 to 2011.
Victor Pinho A dedicated activist and
seasoned marketing professional, Vic-
22
tor got his start in drug policy reform
in 2004 when he co-founded NORML
and SSDP chapters at the University
of Maryland, College Park. For over a
decade, Victor has remained deeply
involved with SSDP at various capacities
and was recognized as an Outstanding
Alum in 2008. Victor’s professional life
doesn’t stray too far from his passions.
As Director of Marketing and Commu-
nications for Berkeley Patients Group,
California’s oldest, continuously operat-
ing medical cannabis dispensary, Victor
has become a thought-leader in his field
and is pioneering innovative marketing
techniques targeted for the medical can-
nabis industry.
Nushin Rashidian is an award-winning
Iranian American journalist. Rashidian, a
Columbia University Graduate School of
Journalism alumna, focuses her reporting
on drug policy, aging issues, and stories
of injustice. Her work has appeared in
the New York Times, The Nation, Tehran
Bureau, Esquire, AARP Bulletin, CBS
News, and The Guardian US. She is a
Californian still adjusting to the seasons
in the northeast.
Vikrant P. Reddy is a senior policy ana-
lyst in the Center for Effective Justice
at the Texas Public Policy Foundation,
where he coordinates the Right On Crime
campaign. He has authored several
reports on criminal justice policy and is a
frequent speaker and media commenta-
tor on the topic. Reddy has worked as a
research assistant at The Cato Institute,
as a law clerk to the Honorable Gina M.
Benavides of the Thirteenth Court of
Appeals of Texas, and as an attorney in
private practice, focusing on trial and ap-
pellate litigation.
Mike Riggs is director of communica-
tions for Families Against Mandatory
Minimums. A former journalist, he has
covered civil liberties and criminal justice
policy for Atlantic Media, Reason Maga-
zine, the Washington City Paper, The
Daily Caller, the Nation, the Weekly Stan-
dard, The New Republic, and other out-
lets. In 2013, his investigative reporting
for Reason was recognized by both the
Los Angeles Press Club and the Western
Publishing Association. He is a former
judge for the Association of Alternative
Newsmedia Awards, and a graduate of
Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.
Nick Rosenberg is an SSDP chapter lead-
er at the University of Maryland (UMD).
His passion for social justice is what drew
him to drug policy reform. Nick has con-
siderable experience volunteering and
for the past 2 years was a leader with
UMD Alternative Breaks, a service learn-
ing program where student led groups
go on week long trips focusing on a par-
ticular social issue. Nick is also a leader
of Delta Alpha Pi, the honor society for
students with disabilities, which aims to
improve the rights and perceptions of
individuals with disabilities. This summer
he was an intern for the Criminal Justice
Policy Foundation and SSDP.
Kellen Russoniello is a current board
member of SSDP and Staff Attorney
with the ACLU of San Diego and Impe-
rial Counties, where he works to ensure
pathways to health access instead of to
the criminal justice system. He earned
his JD and MPH from The George
Washington University. Kellen drafted
Good Samaritan overdose prevention
legislation for the District of Columbia,
which became law in March, 2013. He
has volunteered drafting motions to seal
criminal records, providing outreach to
sex workers and homeless people, and
teaching middle-school children about
the Constitution and Bill of Rights. He
has held several internships with various
drug policy reform organizations.
Jeronimo Saldaña is the legislative and
organizing coordinator for the movement
building team at the Drug Policy Alliance.
Prior to joining the Drug Policy Alliance,
Saldaña worked as a political organizer
for a Service Employees International
Union (SEIU) affiliate advocating on
behalf of working families. Jeronimo has
also worked on environmental justice,
civic engagement, and immigrant rights
while serving as a program associate at
the Open Society Foundations. Saldaña
is a native East L.A. Chicano with a B.A.
in Chican/o studies from the University
of California Santa Barbara.
Adam Schneider, MA, MSW, is Director
of Community Relations at Health Care
for the Homeless (HCH), where he works
on state and local public policy and
community initiatives related to issues of
health and homelessness. He had been
an organizer of several grassroots initia-
tives undertaken by people experienc-
ing homelessness. Prior to HCH, Adam
worked as a case manager for people
living in poverty in Baltimore. In addi-
tion to his work at HCH, Adam teaches
courses on philosophy, political theory,
social work, public health and public
policy at several colleges and universities
in Maryland.
Mark Schumann is a leading advocate
and community educator on poverty
and homelessness in Baltimore. He is a
founding member of Baltimore’s ‘Faces
of Homelessness’ Speakers Bureau. He
also helped start Baltimore’s street news-
paper, Word in the Street, for which he is
editor-in-chief. Mark is also on the Board
of Directors at Heath Care for the Home-
less of Maryland.
Dylan Schwartz is SSDP’s Intern Program
development consultant and is execu-
tive director of Your Vote Counts PAC. In
Staten Island, Dylan runs the Youth Lead-
ership Academy, empowering young
people in New York City to get involved
in electoral and issue based campaigns
while providing the training they need to
succeed in a professional environment.
When in college, Dylan served as a mem-
ber of the Orlando Anti-Discrimination
Ordinance Committee, rallying young
people to secure Domestic Partnerships
for all couples, and served as a field orga-
nizer in 2012 for Obama for America.
Christian Sederberg is a partner and
founding member of Vincente Sederberg
LLC, one of the first securities practices
in the world dedicated specifically to
helping marijuana industry companies
go public. Christian was an integral part
of Colorado’s Amendment 64 campaign
and also offered advice to the Uruguayan
Government ahead of the introduction of
Cannabis Regulation in the country.
Catherine Sevcenko is the Associate Di-
23
rector of Litigation for FIRE. She gradu-
ated magna cum laude from George
Mason School of Law after a career as
a Foreign Service Officer. Postings in
Budapest, Munich, and Moscow before
and after the fall of the Berlin Wall gave
her a deep appreciation for the power
of free speech. After law school, Cath-
erine clerked on the Sixth Circuit Court
of Appeals before starting work as an
associate at Steptoe & Johnson, LLC.
After leaving Steptoe, Catherine joined
the appellate group at the U.S. Trustees
Program at the Department of Justice
and was interim Executive Director for
a non-profit in Washington, D.C. that
teaches chess to children.
Jeremy Sharp, a proud native of Georgia
is a student at the University of North
Georgia where he serves as the President
of the SSDP chapter there. He is also a
Board Member and Student Liaison for
Peachtree NORML, Regional Coordinator
for Amplify Project, and Board Mem-
ber for Georgia Overdose Prevention.
Jeremy has testified in front of the House
Judiciary/Non-Civil committee in favor
of HB 965 and was personally com-
mended by the Georgia state House and
state Senate and Governor Nathan Deal
for his efforts. Jeremy was instrumental
in SSDP’s efforts to enact the Medical
Amnesty and Naloxone access law in
Georgia, in early 2014.
Steve Silverman is the founder and exec-
utive director of Flex Your Rights (Flex),
a creative educational nonprofit build-
ing better tools for navigating police
encounters. Flex produced the popular
educational movies, BUSTED: The Citi-
zen’s Guide to Surviving Police Encoun-
ters and 10 Rules for Dealing with Police.
Their YouTube channel has surpassed
35 million views. Flex is now developing
better mobile apps for recording and
monitoring the police.
Eric E. Sterling, J.D. SSDP National
Board since 2004; supporter since 1999.
President of the Criminal Justice Policy
Foundation since 1989. As a student, he
joined NORML and testified for mari-
juana decriminalization in 1976. Public
defender and volunteer counsel ACLU,
1977-1979. In the 1980s, he was the Assis-
tant Counsel, U.S. House Crime Subcom-
mittee, responsible for laws on drugs,
guns, pornography, and organized crime.
Joining DPA in 1986, he was one of its
first members. He helped found FAMM in
1990, MPP in 1993 and Marijuana Major-
ity in 2012. B. A. 1973, Haverford College;
J. D. 1976, Villanova University. Faculty:
American University (1985-86), George
Washington University (2007-08).
Jesse Stout is a criminal defense lawyer
and criminal justice activist. Since earn-
ing his bar license, he has appeared in
criminal courts across northern Califor-
nia. Jesse graduated from Brown Univer-
sity and University of California Hastings
College of the Law. During law school
Jesse worked for public defenders and
analyzed criminal justice legislation at
the California Assembly Public Safety
Committee. Before law school, Jesse was
executive director of the Rhode Island
Patient Advocacy Coalition. There, he
organized the medical marijuana patient
community in support of the RI Medical
Marijuana Act, which overcame three
gubernatorial vetoes and now protects
thousands from arrest.
Drew Stromberg is our Outreach Direc-
tor. He oversees our two Outreach Co-
ordinators and our Campus Coordinator
program. Drew got involved in Students
for Sensible Drug Policy in 2009 when
he founded the chapter at West Virginia
University. Drew presided over the WVU
chapter from 2009 to 2011 and interned
at the national office in Washington, D.C.
in the summer of 2010. For Colorado’s
Amendment 64 campaign, Drew built
a specialized phonebank tool which
students and activists from across the
country used to make more than 18,000
phone calls to Colorado voters in sup-
port of Amendment 64. Additionally,
Drew helped coordinate and oversee the
on-the-ground student-oriented GOTV
effort in the final days of the campaign,
where volunteers engaged with more
than 10,000 student voters on six Colo-
rado college campuses.
Kylee Sunderlin is a Soros Justice Ad-
vocacy Fellow at National Advocates for
Pregnant Women, a reproductive justice
organization that protects the rights,
health, and dignity of those who are
pregnant and parenting by organizing
with state and national coalitions, provid-
ing pro bono legal assistance, supporting
defense attorneys in criminal and civil
child welfare cases, and bringing legal
and medical expertise to media and
professionals who work with pregnant
people. Ms. Sunderlin’s work focuses
primarily on challenging punitive re-
sponses to opioid use during pregnancy,
including medication-assisted treatment,
through public education and targeted
litigation. She received her B.A. and J.D.
from the University of Michigan and is a
proud double wolverine.
Rex Tai is a senior at Northwestern
studying Biology, minoring in Sociologi-
cal Research, and pursuing a premedi-
cine track. He succeeded to the presi-
dency for 2014-2015 following a year of
tenure as treasurer for SSDP at NU, and
he hopes to see his chapter grow even
more and establish a legacy of sensible
drug policy and education at his school.
He advocates discussion on diversity and
inequality within Northwestern’s Asian
American and minority communities,
promotes harm reduction in all parts of
life from sex to eating, and performs neu-
robiology research with a focus on drug
mechanisms. When he needs a breather
from drug policy, he enjoys hip-hop
dancing with ReFresH Dance Crew, cook-
ing anything imaginable so he can take
pictures of his creations, and discovering
new electronic or classical music.
Olivia Teehan is the SSDP Chapter
Leader at UCC (University College Cork)
in Cork, Ireland.
Eapen Thampy is the founder and execu-
tive director of Americans for Forfeiture
Reform, a nonprofit advocating the re-
form of civil and criminal asset forfeiture
at the state and federal level. Eapen also
serves as the Midwest Director for the
Our America Initiative, and is one of the
founders of the Show-Me Cannabis mari-
juana legalization movement in Missouri.
Shaleen Title is co-founder of THC Staff-
24
ing Group, a recruitment firm for the
marijuana industry. She serves as a regu-
latory and compliance expert for 4Front
Advisors, and previously, she helped
make history as part of the team which
legalized marijuana for the first time in
2012. Shaleen has won several awards
for her advocacy work and her efforts to
bring more women and people of color
into drug policy reform, including the
Hunter S. Thompson Young Attorney
Award and the High Times Freedom
Fighter Award. She served on the SSDP
Board of Directors from 2009 to 2013
and currently serves as a board member
for Marijuana Majority. You can follow her
on Twitter at @shaleentitle.
Sam Tracy is chairman of Students for
Sensible Drug Policy’s board of direc-
tors, elected in March 2012 after getting
started with SSDP as a chapter leader at
the University of Connecticut. He works
as Communications & Marketing Coordi-
nator at 4Front Advisors, a medical mari-
juana consulting firm, where he assists in
drafting license applications for state-
legal marijuana businesses and repre-
sents the firm at industry events. Sam
also works as Social Media & Activism
Director for TechFreedom, a technology
policy think tank based in Washington,
DC. He now lives in Boston.
Mason Tvert is director of communica-
tions for Marijuana Policy Project. He
co-directed the successful campaign
in support of Amendment 64, the 2012
ballot initiative to regulate marijuana
like alcohol in Colorado, co-founded and
directed Safer Alternative For Enjoyable
Recreation (SAFER), and co-authored
Marijuana Is Safer: So why are we driving
people to drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009).
Mason has worked with students to pass
marijuana policy reforms at more than a
dozen colleges and universities. In Janu-
ary 2013, the Denver Post named him
the state’s “Top Thinker” in the area of
politics and government. He is currently
a member of the SAFER board of direc-
tors and a member of the advisory board
for Marijuana Majority.
Jasmine L. Tyler is the senior policy
analyst for global health and drug policy
at the Open Society Foundations, where
she promotes the reform of domestic
and international drug policy. Prior to
joining Open Society, she was deputy
director of national affairs for the Drug
Policy Alliance, where she worked closely
with Congress and the advocacy com-
munity to effectively shape public health,
criminal justice, and health policy. She
has also worked as research director for
the Justice Policy Institute, contribut-
ing to research on the criminal justice
system and juvenile justice reinvest-
ment. Jasmine has contributed to several
publications on mass incarceration, racial
justice, and the war on drugs.
Jurriaan van den Hurk first became
involved with SSDP as a freshman at
Virginia Commonwealth University in
the fall of 2010. He took over leader-
ship of the chapter as co-President the
following year and continued to lead the
chapter until the spring of 2014. During
his time as a chapter leader, he worked
on expanding the university’s on-cam-
pus harm reduction program, Just Say
Know!, lobbying the state legislators reg-
ularly on issues ranging from marijuana
decriminalization to access to TANF by
felony drug offenders, and introducing
a statewide Good Samaritan policy bill
in 2014. He has also conducted scholarly
research on international drug policy
and cartel violence in Mexico at national
student research conferences. Jurriaan
currently works as a data and monitor-
ing specialist in the education field, and
enjoys spending his free time writing and
playing music.
Mitzi Vaughn is the Managing Attorney
for Greenbridge Corporate Counsel. She
also oversees Greenbridge’s Washington
state practice, advising the cannabis in-
dustry regarding corporate, transaction-
al, and employment matters, as well as
adult-use and medical cannabis regula-
tions. Mitzi has represented a wide vari-
ety of cannabis industry leaders: nutrient
manufacturers, cultivators, processors,
retailers, real estate developers, inves-
tors, consultants, and software develop-
ers. She is a member of the National
Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA),
the Coalition for Cannabis Standards &
Ethics (CCSE), and the Washington Mari-
juana Business Association (MJBA). She
obtained her law degree from University
of California, Berkeley, and graduated
magna cum laude from the University of
Texas at San Antonio.
Tyler Vile is a writer, performer, and
advocate for disability rights, LGBTQ+
rights, and drug policy reform. She has
testified in favor of medical cannabis
reform before the Maryland State Legis-
lature for five consecutive years and was
a committed member of University of
Maryland, College Park’s SSDP chapter
for two years. She is a staff writer at
Bluestockings Magazine, a regular con-
tributor to Punk Globe Magazine, and has
performed at Washington, DC’s Queer
Poetry Summit and Slam, Capturing Fire.
Tyler Williams is a current senior at the
University of Connecticut, where he
studies history. His past experiences with
campus media include working as Edi-
tor in Chief of a monthly alternative arts
and politics magazine: “The UConn Free
Press”, and administrating successful
Facebook pages for the Free Press and
SSDP. Currently, Tyler serves as Presi-
dent of UConn SSDP, and hosts their
weekly programming on the campus
radio station.
Rachelle Yeung is a legislative ana-
lyst, lobbyist, and staff attorney at the
Marijuana Policy Project. She works with
grassroots coalitions and legislators to
pass marijuana policy reform bills in a
dozen different states. Rachelle first
became involved with the drug policy
movement as a college student, volun-
teering and attending rallies in Southern
California. In 2012, she founded the Uni-
versity of Colorado Law School chap-
ter of SSDP, which won the Rising Star
Chapter award at the International Con-
ference that year. Rachelle went on to
work for Sensible Colorado, Colorado’s
historic Amendment 64 campaign, and
Vicente Sederberg, the state’s foremost
marijuana law firm.
25
LOCAL INFORMATION
Substance Use
Virginia’s laws are excellent examples of
laws in desperate need of changing by
SSDP members and allies, with particu-
larly harsh penalties. No matter how
unjust, we hope that conference partici-
pants will respect the laws of the State of
Virginia.
Free Meeting Space
Want to present on a topic not covered
by another panel, or provide an alternate
view? Perhaps you’d like to practice a
presentation you’ve been working on, or
host a dialogue. Sign up for open presen-
tation times in the Potomac Room.
Need help?
SSDP’s Conference Hotline will connect
you with a member of SSDP’s staff 24/7.
Dial 202-393-5280, ext 9 to be con-
nected to a staff member.
Local Recovery Group Meetings
SMART Recovery Meetings
Saturday 8:30 - 10:00 am
Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church
One Chevy Chase Circle, N.W.
Lower Level Room 103
Washington, DC
Jack Werstein (202) 829-8566
Saturday 10:00 - 11:30 am
Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church
One Chevy Chase Circle, N.W.
Lower Level Room 103
Washington, DC
Patrick Truman (301) 412-2144
M
Hotel Map
PIOLAMELEE
ROSSLYN
26
M
Key
M
CAPITOL SOUTH
Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge
1900 N Fort Myer Dr, Arlington, VA
Metro Station
Piola (Alumni Dinner Location)
1550 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
Melee Bistro (ORD Dinner Location)
1723 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA
Lobby Day Group Photo Location
27
ADVOCACY & INDUSTRY JOB FAIR
Students for Sensible Drug Policy has
long held a unique space in the drug
policy reform movement: The work that
our members do on their campuses and
in their states prepares them to be lead-
ers in not only drug policy reform, but
also in many intersecting movements.
The list of SSDP alumni doing meaningful
work in social justice, the liberty move-
ment, direct service harm reduction, and
other areas of policy reform is long and
impressive.
State-legal marijuana industries have
opened another door for post-gradua-
tion employment and many of the more
visible leaders of that industry cut their
teeth while founding SSDP and building
their chapters. As they become influen-
tial leaders, SSDP alumni ensure the can-
nabis industry remains deeply connected
to its advocacy roots and maintains the
values of responsibility, transparency,
and social entrepreneurship. Across the
nation, SSDP alumni are filling out the
ranks of entry- mid-level positions at --
or founding -- consulting firms, service
providers, law firms, and, yes, legal mari-
juana providers.
While some used to consider including
SSDP membership on a résumé a liability,
it’s now well-known that many employers
will move SSDPers to top consideration
because of the powerful experiences that
shape their work ethic and philosophy
while in college. Opportunities abound
for young alumni seeking internship or
employment opportunities. SSDP is reg-
ularly contacted by nonprofits and small
businesses alike looking for rockstar
up-and-comers to contribute that special
SSDP ethos to their teams.
And in the coming post-prohibition
world, there may be no more powerful
way to bring science, evidence, and com-
passion to public health and regulation
of drugs — whether alcohol, marijuana,
or others — than to have SSDP students
and alumni engaged in developing and
implementing public campaigns or work-
ing in regulated markets.
So SSDP is expanding the support of-
fered to students and alumni through our
new Career Services program, includ-
ing an online Advocacy + Industry Job
Board, guided internships, and more.
Take a few minutes to visit our inau-
gural Advocacy + Industry Job Fair in
Shenandoah C, where you can learn
more about the Career Services pro-
gram and connect with top employers
who understand that there’s something
special about having an SSDP alumnus
on their team.
28
What’s ORD and how does SSDP define
and promote diversity?
Mission & Values
SSDP Outreach, Recruitment, and Di-
versity Committee (ORD) is a collabora-
tive committee comprised of board and
non-board members, students, alumni,
and community members dedicated to
broadening Students for Sensible Drug
Policy’s (SSDP) base and increasing
engagement with presently underrepre-
sented perspectives.
Since its founding in March 2011, ORD
has taken on the challenges of strength-
ening diversity in all its forms within
SSDP. The committee endeavors to en-
sure that the range of perspectives and
personal experiences of all communities
and individuals negatively impacted in
the War on Drugs are represented and
integrated into SSDP and the drug policy
reform movement at large. ORD does
this by creating a welcoming, open, and
safe space for all stakeholders.
Resources & Further Information
ORD offers consultants for your chapter
and your events, scholarships to attend
SSDP national and regional SSDP confer-
ences as well as other drug policy and
intersectional conferences, and valuable
experience working on diversity and
outreach in SSDP as part of a dedicated
team.
Check us out and donate online at ssdp.
org/diversity, and join our conversation
on Facebook at http://bit.ly/ssdp-ord
ORD at SSDP Conference 2014
Congratulations to the 2014 SSDP ORD
conference scholarship recipients:
Crystal Brunt, Ryan Byrd, Stephanie
Izquieta, Margarita McAuliffe, Roman
Rivera, Sara Arnold, Tanner Taylor
Frederick Marcel Williams III, Melissa
Clink, Vivian Perea, Chauncey Scales
All are welcome to join committee mem-
bers, ORD scholarship recipients, and
others Saturday evening for dinner, net-
working and an open conversation about
outreach to underrepresented stakehold-
ers and ORD’s role in facilitating diver-
sity. See Event Schedule for details.
OUTREACH RECRUITMENT AND DIVERSITY
SPONSORS
Senior Sponsor Ideal420.com
Junior Sponsors Berkeley Patient Group, Freedom Leaf, Greenbridge Corporate Counsel, Students for Liberty
Sophomore Sponsors Arcview Group, Harborside Health Center, Marijuana Policy Project, Vicente Sederberg
Freshman Sponsors Americans for Safe Access, Charles Koche Institute, Drug Policy Alliance, FIRE, Harm Reduction Coalition
LEAP, MAPS, NORML, Open Society Foundations, Reason
Change Beyond Campus Award
DC SSDP Chapters
Florida SSDP Chapters
University of Connecticut
University of North Georgia
Virginia Commonwealth University
Dave Borden Friend of SSDP Award
ArcView Group
Greenbridge Corporate Counsel
Multidisciplinary Association for Psyche-
delic Studies
Students for Liberty
Vicente Sederberg, LLC
Morgan Lesko Online Activism Award
Irish SSDP Chapters
University of Connecticut
Outstanding Alumnus Award (2 winners
will be selected)
Michael Blunk
Sam Chapman
Brooke Gilbert
Randy Hencken
Mike Liszewski
Andrew Livingston
Amanda Muller
Kat Murti
Matt Namer
Evan Nison
Jesse Stout
Sam Tracy
Chris Wallis
Rachelle Yeung
Outstanding Chapter Award (2 winners will
be selected)
Brown University
College of Charleston
Louisiana State University
Northwestern University
Portland State University
SUNY New Paltz
Tulane University
University of Connecticut
University of North Georgia
University of Rhode Island
Virginia Commonwealth University
Outstanding Student Activist Award (2
winners will be selected)
Romain Bonilla, Portland State University
Rose Bono, Virginia Commonwealth Uni-
versity
Eric Casey, University of Rhode Island
Frances Fu, Northwestern University
Stephanie Izquieta, SUNY Binghamton
Duell Lauderdale, University of Missouri
Vilmarie Narloch, Roosevelt University
Nick Rosenberg, University of Maryland
Jeremy Sharp, University of North Georgia
Emma Tuttleman-Krieger, Tulane University
Tyler Williams, University of Connecticut
Rachel Wissner, SUNY New Paltz
Rising Star Chapter Award
Arizona State University
George Washington University
Lewis & Clark University
Texas A&M University – Law School
University of Cincinnatti
Rising Star Activist Award
Nolan Craft, Northern Michigan University
Eric Gudz, University of California – Davis
Ben Nathanson, Dickinson College
Sarah Saucedo, Arizona State University
Nick Watkins, George Washington Univer-
sity
Scott & Cyan Banister Campus Change
Award
Dickinson College
Grinnell College
Portland State University
SUNY New Paltz
Western Kentucky University
Unsung Hero Award
AMPLIFY Volunteers
Saul Fougnier
Randy Hencken
Kris Lotlikar
Additionally, there are a few awards for
which we will not be announcing nominees,
those include:
Fundraising Award
Grace Under Fire Award
Lifetime Achievement Award
Stuart Abelson Goodwill Award
Randy Hencken Award for Saving Our
Asses
Congratulations to this year’s SSDP Award nominees!
Students for SensibleDrug Policy
1011 O Street NW #1, Washington, DC 20001
ssdp@ssdp.org (202) 393-5280 ssdp.org
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