This Friday SSDP will be hosting their first-ever Sensiblelooza from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the ground flood of Norris. Meet Caroline Naughton of SSDP, learn more about Sensiblelooza,and make sure to check out the event tomorrow night!
Name: Caroline Naughton
Age: 21
Year: Senior
Major: Cognitive Science and Psychology
Hometown: Oakton, VA
What is SSDP?
SSDP stands for Students for Sensible Drug Policy, it is an international network of students trying to end drug prohibition. We do everything from drug policy education for our new members, all the way to direct action work, including rallies and protests, as part of our mission. We have built momentum by being student leaders on over 200 campuses. We try and host two public events a quarter, and we have a lot of weekly internal events for our members. We’re working on doing more external events, but we need to first build a strong base of advocates who are strong enough and knowledgeable enough to go out on campus and educate others.
How and why did you get involved in SSDP?
I got involved through a sorority sister I really admired. She asked me if I would come to SSDP’s first meeting, when they weren’t just looking for leaders, they were looking for people to shape the future of the organization. I was looking for leadership roles, and I started realizing that I could play a powerful role to help people who are being charged by drug laws. I learned a lot about myself in the process, and how to form a healthy relationship with drugs. It was something I slowly developed a passion for over time, and I became more connected to the nuances of it as I learned more about the history of drug laws and where I fit into it. I wanted to get more involved, not just on campus, but by shaping laws in our country and the whole world.
What is Sensiblelooza?
It’s a benefit concert and a speakout for SSDP, there will be community organizers and leading voices from the drug policy reform movement in attendance speaking about specific issues of drug policy reform. There will also be fundraising events, including a raffle contest with merchandise to purchase and petitions people will be signing. We will really be trying to engage students who are there, so we can end the drug war more quickly. It’ll be a dynamic performance: we have very different types of genres performing, rappers, DJs, punk rock bands. It will be very diverse and I think that embodies our mission. Our event is free because we don’t want to bar people from attending who can’t pay from participating in drug policy reform activism.
How are you involved in Sensiblelooza?
I’ll be there on stage introducing the speakers and artists. It will kind of like the activity fair, in that we’ll have a table set up with information about SSDP and more ways to learn about us and get involved.
What else do you do on campus?
I’m on the executive board for Alpha Chi Omega, and I definitely incorporate my SSDP knowledge to educate the chapter about drug safety and policy reform. I’m also part of red watch band, an alcohol-education program to end alcohol overdose deaths, and I’m part of the student advisor board for the cognitive science department.