Open Letter to Illinois Citizens - As submitted to the Chicago Tribune

Illinois is behind the curve in understanding marijuana

In response to the passing of HB 1 through the House on April 17th, even though so many states have already implemented medical cannabis laws, from my research, many people around Illinois simply don't know the facts.

I got involved with drug policy in 2010 by founding a chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy during my time at Northern Illinois University to foster open debate regarding the truth of controlled substances.  I spent three years trying to educate the public regarding the true nature of cannabis and its medical use, and from the comments alone on (the April 17th) article, many still don't know the value of cannabis.

As someone that has spent over three years studying articles, journals, and anything else scholarly regarding cannabis, little has made it to the mainstream media.  While there is abundant evidence that it helps with side effects related to serious diseases, there isn't a single scientific study going on regarding cannabis' ability to directly treat root causes.  That is due to the fact that the federal government refuses to permit these types of studies.  There are plenty of pre-clinical trials going on regarding cannabis' ability to reduce tumor growth, and more and more studies are popping up regarding cannabis' ability to effectively treat a number of diseases that have been historically difficult to treat.

While I personally have never treated anyone using cannabis, I have spent years researching those that have made such a claim.  I have read their books, watched their movies, read their blogs, and even for good measure interviewed them directly, most notably being Rick Simpson for his movie "Run From The Cure".  After each interview I wondered if they would ever get a scientific study dedicated to their claims.  Unfortunately, until the government releases its tight grip around controlling cannabis, these studies will not take place.

For those interested in getting educated regarding the current day research, there are a number of locations online that can be accessed.  The most important is the National Institute of Health page on Cancer and Cannabis (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/cannabis/healthprofessional/page4) , which echoes the argument that cannabis may prove to treat diseases directly, and not just side effects.  One of the leading researchers from inside this country, Dr. Robert Melameade, professor at University of Colorado, Colorado Spring, is featured in the documentary "What if Cannabis Cured Cancer," which also features some of the global leaders in cannabis science.  It is possibly the most informative documentary I have seen in my years as a drug policy activist.

Even though the scientific community refuses to acknowledge these arguments, it is only a matter of time before the science regarding theendocannabinoid system in uncovered.  Hopefully by then, the naysayers will have figured out how to effectively use cannabis to treat one or more of their ailments.

Jeremy Hartmann Orbach

NIU Students for Sensible Drug Policy Chapter Founder

Students for Liberty International Conference

I haven't had much of a chance to write over the last couple of weeks; I was hospitalized and am going to need surgery in the next few months, but its nothing super serious.

I was invited to speak at this weekend's 2011 International Students for Liberty Conference in Washington D.C.  This was my first experience as a speaker at a conference over 500.  I found out fairly early on that nearly every state in the U.S. had registered, and that 25 countries were also registered.  I met people from Romania, Australia, UK, Nigeria, and others that I am not currently remembering.  The level of intellect of those in attendance was nothing short of stunning.

Students for Liberty is not at all what I thought it was; I figured it would be a bunch of Libertarians spouting off about how terrible government and bureaucracy is, and while there were some people that held these beliefs, this conference struck me as very similar to that of an SSDP conference.  The political beliefs ranged from unsure independent to ultra libertarian, and everything in between.  While many people debated politics for long periods of time, there tended to be one thing in common with everyone:  everyone felt as though our liberties were being infringed upon.

Students for Liberty is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, which is what makes it so different from other Libertarian groups.  They don't support any specific policies, nor do they support Libertarian groups that are not non-profit.  From my perspective, this is what makes SFL so important.

Alexander McCobin and Sloane Frost, two co-founders of Students for Liberty, did nothing but impress me with their level of commitment to the organization they founded.  Both were top notch speakers that seem to have mastered the process of organizing and delegating, and in three years successfully turned their organization into the largest student-run, liberty-promoting group in existence.

The Stossel Show was filmed at the conference, where John Stossel made it clear that he had never seen a group of politically minded students similar to SFL in his years in the media.  The energy in the crowd was nothing short of electric as students from around the world lined up to ask questions during the taping.  Gary Johnson spoke about his perspective of politics which blew everyone away (apparently he vetoed more bills than anyone else in the country when he was in office).  While he probably will not be President of the United States anytime soon, he is still running in 2012, which continues to garner more and more media attention.

In a nutshell, and in my opinion, Students for Liberty is the future of politics.  There is not another group of such incredibly intelligent students in existence, and there is absolutely no way to stigmatize the organization.  Hopefully a formal relationship will be set up between SSDP and SFL so that we can work together to help end the failed War on Drugs and advance the ideals of Liberty across the world.

Thanks to all those that took the time to get to know me; it was an honor for me to have the opportunity to share my story.  I sincerely hope that it encourages more chapters of SSDP to start up, and more people to get involved in their local chapters.  Only time can tell what will happen, but if anyone from Students for Liberty has any questions about SSDP or wants to get one started, I'd be happy to help where I can.  My co-presenter, Stacia Cosner, is the Associate Director of SSDP and it is her job to help students start chapters.  Her e-mail address is stacia@ssdp.org.

Questions?  Comments?  Comment below or e-mail me directly at niussdpfounder@gmail.com.

Tomorrow and Thursday at 7:00PM are SSDP's First Meetings

WHO:  Students for Sensible Drug Policy
WHAT:  Chapter Meeting - First one in a looooong time
WHEN:  Wednesday, January 26th at 7:00PM and Thursday, January 27th at 7:00PM
WHERE:  Holmes Student Center, Illinois Room
WHY:  We've got a lot to talk about, especially in regards to what happened.  There will be a question and answer session for those in attendance, and we will be discussing the future of NIU SSDP as well as the restructuring internal to our chapter.

FREE PIZZA if a decent number of people show up!

First Meetings for NIU SSDP of Spring 2011 -

I continually have been getting asked when the first SSDP meeting is of the semester.  Given that our organizational structure has changed, and I am no longer in charge of meeting planning and decision making, I had to wait to ask the acting executive board members.  Chris Clanin, acting Chief Executive Officer of NIU SSDP decided that next Wednesday, January 26th, and Thursday, January 27th will be our first meetings, and they decided to space out the days to see which days more people could attend.  This may or may not be permanent, in the attempt to accommodate more students interested in sensible drug policy.

While nothing has been formally set, when more details surface on the nature of these first meetings, I will post them.  I will say that we are expecting a great deal more activities this semester regarding NIU SSDP, however, we still haven't found out if we will be able to access the activity fee money that is supposed to be divvied up in a non-discriminatory method.

On a personal note, I feel that if every student is required to pay a fee to go towards student organizations, there is no defensible option for this two year waiting period on funding.  I feel as though it discriminates against new organizations, and as a number of members of NIU SSDP echoed, it goes against common sense, considering that it usually costs more to get a good basis of membership than to maintain it.

Either way, I'm going to bring it up at some point soon, and see how much change is going to be taking place internal to the Student Assocation Senate this semester.

Long Term Plans for this Blog

So I want to establish some written ideas of what I am going to use this blog for.  I would appreciate some comments to see how this blog would be the most helpful to those that choose to follow me.

1.  I began this blog so that rather than telling 20 - 30 people the exact same thing at different points, I can type it once, and then if people want to respond, they can do it through this avenue.

2.  I have been researching different aspects of the War on Drugs that I do not feel has been brought to the appropriate light of the drug policy activist community, and, in my opinion, may end up speeding up the ending of prohibition.  In due time, I will be releasing a series of essays regarding these.

3.  Many people internal to SSDP want to follow what's going on with NIU SSDP, and this way those people can keep updated on what is going on.  I do want to make one thing clear though:  I am not speaking on behalf of NIU SSDP.  I will share information about NIU SSDP, and may reflect on different aspects of NIU SSDP, but in no way, shape or form do I represent the views of NIU SSDP.  Also, NIU SSDP does not represent my views; being the founder allowed me to share my views and help establish a basis of the SSDP ideals, but the nature of the way the organization runs at this point will allow it to grow and expand without my controlling it.  In no way, shape or form at this point, do I have any control over this organization, other than sharing ideas as founder and a member of the NIU SSDP Board of Directors.

4.  When my brain is "overflowing" (as I humorously like to call it), I can write a blog and share my thoughts instead of let them boil over and inevitably cause me additional stress.  In essence, this blog is a stress reliever.  Woo.

I think that about covers it.  Please feel free to share your ideas as well!

Peace and love

Creation of WOD: ANP

I'm gonna try and keep this is non-wordy as possible, given that I know I'm a talker and can get off on random tangents frequently.  I decided to set up this blog after recommendations from a number of colleagues to begin posting my thoughts and reflections of both the War on Drugs and the efforts of NIU SSDP.  As these seem to go hand in hand, it made sense to me to start a centralized location that I can share my thoughts with those that want to listen, and be able to avoid the addiction of Facebook, as well as frustrating the friends of mine that have no interest in drug policy reform.

I do want to mention, for those that think I am a crazy insane liar, please do me the favor of not flaming my posts.  I know that quite a bit of my actions regarding NIU SSDP are controversial, and some of the actions that I am currently taking are also controversial, but if you want to comment, please keep it to the points.

Peace and love to you all!

Jeremy Orbach
Acting member of the NIU SSDP Board of Directors
Founder, Former President
Northern Illinois University Students for Sensible Drug Policy