The drug war is, the way we see it, a useless and futile war," said Andrew Epstein '01E, who founded the Amherst chapter of the Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) last Spring. SSDP was formed as a national organization in response to the Higher Education Act of 1998, which delayed or denied financial aid to any student convicted of drug possession. Students all over the country convened to fight this policy and to eradicate other injustices they saw in America's war on drugs.

"We've spent billions of dollars trying to eradicate drugs, and there is no way it can or will happen," said Epstein. "At the same time, we see it as a war on the American people-they get punished for something that they're doing to themselves [and] they're harming no one."

"We haven't been met with much resistance at Amherst," Epstein said. "[Students] seem willing to examine the problems of the drug war, but I think they often get scared when you talk about legalization of drugs. It's frustrating when people identify us as 'potheads' or people who just want to do drugs all the time."

Dario Borghesan '02, who is an SSDP member, agrees that many students are uninterested in policy issues. "I think that Amherst students generally are pretty caught up in their lives here," he said. "I know that a lot of them use drugs and look at it not as a big deal, because they are not affected by drug policy."

SSDP has found strong support from SGO members and President Tom Gerety, who have signed a letter stating that they oppose the provision about financial aid in the Higher Education Act.

Racial and economic prejudices of the drug war have also concerned the SSDP. "We are after the decriminalization of drugs," Epstein said. "We want a more open system that can accept people who have problems and help them, not just scare them and throw them in jail."