West Coast Regional Conference Tentative Agenda

WELCOME

Welcome!

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Students for Sensible Drug Policy West Coast Regional Conference. We are thrilled that you are joining us for this important discussion about drug policy reform and the role of students and youth in pushing for more sensible policies based on science, compassion and liberty.

SFSUSSDP

Josh Nermon - President

Josh is currently serving his first term as the President of the San Francisco State University SSDP chapter. He is a Junior and is majoring in Business Management.

Sam Sager - Event Coordinator

Eric Tesar - Financial Officer

Hilary Zeimer - Officer

Claire Wilson - Outreach and Social Media Officer

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schedule at a glance 9:00 AM Jack Adams Hall

Opening remarks

9:15 AM Jack Adams Hall

keynote: sen. mark leno

10:00 AM Jack Adams Hall

prop 19: the big picture

11:30 AM Jack Adams Hall

science and drug policy roadblocks

12:30 PM Student Center

lunch on your own

1:30 PM Jack Adams Hall

mdma and ptsd treatment

2:45 PM Rosa Parks A

communities and the drug war

2:45 PM Rosa Parks B

model medical marijuana dispensaries

2:45 PM Rosa Parks C

effective campaigns and policy change

4:00 PM Jack Adams Hall

students and the future of drug policy

5:15 PM Jack Adams Hall

keynote: alice huffman

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Jack Adams Hall

9:15 AM Keynote Speech: Senator Mark Leno Jack Adams Hall

10:00 AM Prop 19 and the Big Picture Jack Adams Hall

SCHEDULE

9:00 AM Opening Remarks

All eyes are on California’s effort to end marijuana prohibition with Proposition 19 this November. If it passes, what does this mean for marijuana legalization? This panel will explore the various aspects about Prop 19 such as the economic and social impacts in California, the response from the federal government and which states will legalize next.

Alex Kreit - Thomas Jefferson School of Law Theshia Naidoo - Drug Policy Alliance Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (invited) Dan Rush - UFCW Local 5

11:30 AM Science and Drug Policy Road Blocks Jack Adams Hall

The evidence is there. Studies have shown that effectiveness of harm reduction practices, the success of treatment vs. incarceration, the relative safety of cannabis use and the ineffectiveness of student drug testing and the ONDCP’s anti-drug media campaign. Still, our drug policies ignore concrete evidence and continue to based on ideology, misinformation, politicking and fear. This panel will show how science has been ignored in the forming of U.S. drug policy and what is being done to change it.

Paul Armentano - NORML Amanda Reiman - University of California Berkeley Laura Thomas - Drug Policy Alliance

12:30 PM Lunch (On Your Own) 1:30 PM MDMA and PTSD Treatment Jack Adams Hall

Researched sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) into the treatment of post traumatic stress disorder with a combination psychotherapy and 3,4, Methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is showing remarkable results. Hear from MAPS staff members about this research and the potential for MDMA to become an FDA approved medicine.

Randolph Henken - MAPS Dr. Berra Yazar-Klosinski - MAPS

2:45 PM Communities Impacted by the Drug War Jack Adams Hall

The drug war has an impact on everyone. But some communities are impacted more than others due to racism and socioeconomic status. How did the criminal justice system become a factory for incarcerating people of color for drug offenses and how can the drug policy reform movement build coalitions for change?

Deborah Small - Break the Chains

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2:45 PM Models in Medical Cannabis Dispensaries Jack Adams Hall

With medical marijuana dispensaries proliferating throughout California and other states like Colorado, what is being done to ensure that they are operating responsibly and ethically? Hear why some dispensary owners welcome regulations and what they’re doing to set the standard for responsible medical cannabis distribution.

TBD

2:45 PM Effective Campaigns and Policy Change Jack Adams Hall

Do you know what it takes to run an effective campaign or how to lobby your representative on legislation or an issue you care about? This discussion will cover what has worked (and what hasn’t) in marijuana and other drug policy reform campaigns.

Aaron Houston - SSDP

4:00 PM Students and the Future of Drug Policy Reform Jack Adams Hall

SCHEDULE

SSDP continues to train and inspire thousands of students from around the world to take part in the political process and push for sensible policies that respect personal liberty and are grounded in science, compassion and justice. How will these students continue to influence and contribute to the movement after they graduate?

Speakers TBA Moderator: Jon Perri - SSDP

5:10 PM Keynote Speech: Alice Huffman (Invited) Jack Adams Hall

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Tom Ammiano (Invited) represents the 13th District of the California State Assembly. He is an

alum of San Francisco State University where he earned his masters in special education in 1965. Rep. Ammiano has worked as a public school teacher in San Francisco and founded the movement against banning openly gay teachers in California in 1977. He has introduced AB 2254 which would regulate the sale and distribution of marijuana if Proposition 19 passes.

Laws and the NORML Foundation in Washington, DC. He is an expert in marijuana policy, health, and pharmacology and has written a substantial number of marijuana health and policy articles that have appeared in hundreds of publications, including textbooks, anthologies, magazines and newspapers.

Alice Huffman (Invited) is the President of the CANAACP. She serves on the Board of the

Center for Democratic Participation and is a member of the California Democratic Party Executive Committee and the Democratic National Committee. She graduated from UC Berkeley with honors in social and Cultural Anthropology and did extensive graduate work in University of Pennsylvania, U.C. Berkeley and USC.

Randolph Henken is the director of communications and marketing at MAPS. Randy earned his

Master of Arts in Communication and his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from San Diego State University. He focused all of his graduate studies on drug policy issues and was the founder and president of SDSU’s chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Aaron Houston is the executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

Alex Kreit is an assistant professor and director of the Center for Law and Social Justice at Thomas

SPEAKERBIOS

Paul Armentano is the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana

Jefferson School of Law. He is actively involved in the community and currently serves as Chair of the City of San Diego’s Medical Marijuana Task Force. He is an alum of SSDP and currently sits on the national board of directors.

Laura Thomas is the San Francisco deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. Her 20 years of

experience in HIV and publich health policy began with her involvement in ACT UP in San Francisco. She has been a syringe exhcange volunteer for more than 12 years and helped organize a successful 2007 symposium on safe injection sites.

Theshia Naidoo is a staff attorney with the Office of Legal Affairs. She works on litigation, legislative

drafting and public education efforts concerning drug policy reform, including California’s Proposition 36, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000. She provides legal advice, counsel and training on drug policy, including securing access to medical marijuana and promoting drug treatment instead of incarceration.

Dan Rush is currently the Special Operations Director for United Food and Commercial Workers

Union Local 5 and is also the Executive Secretary Treasurer of Instituto Laboral de la Raza, a workers resource center for unorganized, mono-lingual, immigrant working families in Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose. He comes from a proud 5 Generation Labor family in Oakland and their roots in the 16th AD, UFCW, the Teamsters, the Machinists Union, and the Labor Council, all in Oakland.

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HELPFULINFORMATION ss

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REGISTER: WWW.SSDP.ORG/CONFERENCE/WESTCOAST CONTACT INFORMATION:

connect with ssdp

Jonathan Perri, Associate Director 401.265.9445 jon@ssdp.org Josh Nermon, SFSU SSDP President 714.264.2668

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