For more than 25 years, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) has been challenging the failures of prohibition and calling for policies rooted in evidence, compassion, and human rights. Their message is simple but powerful: the War on Drugs is a war on us.
Founded in 1998, SSDP has grown into the nation’s largest youth-led drug policy network, with nearly 100 chapters across campuses and communities. Today, under the leadership of Executive Director Kat Murti, the organization is focused on making sure cannabis reform delivers not just legalization, but real justice.
Kat Murti’s Journey Into Reform
Murti’s own journey into reform reflects why SSDP exists. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, she witnessed the human toll of prohibition.“I remember seeing when I was a pretty young kid photographs of patients getting dragged out by DEA agents, and by patients, I mean end-of-life HIV patients, people who were dying of AIDS… because they were being treated with cannabis,” Murti said. “That really stuck with me.”
By the time she reached UC Berkeley, Murti had already been active in campaigns and local groups. She joined SSDP in 2009 and quickly rose to chapter president, launching what would become a career in reform. In the years that followed, Murti worked on California’s Proposition 19 campaign to tax and regulate cannabis, advised on local ballot measures and policy efforts, and served on SSDP’s board of directors while building a career in public policy in Washington, D.C.
After more than a decade of advocacy, Murti returned to SSDP as Executive Director in 2023, taking the helm during a pivotal moment for drug policy reform.
What is Students for Sensible Drug Policy?
For more than two decades, Students for Sensible Drug Policy has been giving young people a voice in shaping the future of drug policy. At its core, SSDP advocates replacing the War on Drugs with policies rooted in evidence, compassion, and human rights—policies that make sense. As Murti put it, “SSDP believes the War on Drugs is a war on us, and it's on everybody to step up and be the change in our communities.”
What began as a handful of students in 1998 has grown into the nation’s largest youth-led drug policy network, with nearly 100 chapters across the United States and members around the world. What makes SSDP unique is its structure: a grassroots, student-driven organization where members set the agenda and lead the work. Chapters push for policy change at the campus, local, state, and federal levels while also engaging in drug education and harm reduction.
SSDP’s Fight for Cannabis Policy Reform
While SSDP tackles a broad range of drug policy issues, from harm reduction to psychedelic research, cannabis has always been a driving focus. Despite progress at the state level, Murti stressed that meaningful reform is far from finished.
“There are still about 600 Americans who are arrested every single day for cannabis possession,” she said. “There are about 3,000 people who are serving long-term or life sentences for federal cannabis charges. That's at the federal level. And tens of thousands of people serving long-term sentences across the country.”
She shared the story of one man recently pardoned after nearly four decades in prison for cannabis. “The very first thing that he saw was a brightly lit up billboard of a dispensary across the street. That contrast—it tells you exactly why this fight isn’t over.”
For SSDP, cannabis reform means more than changing laws on paper. They are fighting to end arrests for possession, free those still behind bars, and clear criminal records so people can fully rebuild their lives.
Driving Change in Washington
SSDP’s impact reaches all the way to Capitol Hill. Murti noted that the organization has “met with every single Congressional office at least twice” to push forward cannabis reform and demand action on prison releases and record clearing. That pressure has helped keep cannabis justice on the agenda in Washington.
They’ve also mobilized at critical moments, driving nearly a quarter of the record 43,000 public comments urging that cannabis be removed from Schedule I; SSDP even forced the first DEA scheduling hearing since 1986. That case, challenging the agency’s attempt to ban research compounds, set a new precedent around “research harm” in scheduling decisions, showing SSDP’s power to defend both cannabis reform and broader scientific freedom.
How You Can Support Reform
At TYSON 2.0, we believe cannabis brands have a responsibility to support the organizations working to shape fair, safe, and accessible policy. SSDP embodies that mission, giving young people the tools to drive reform and holding lawmakers accountable.
As Murti put it: “The War on Drugs is a war on us, and it's on everybody to step up and be the change in our communities.”
You can learn more and join the movement at ssdp.org.
