Attention
All
Students:
Plug
in,
Stand
up,
Speak
out!!
DRCNet
invites
you
to
join
U-NET
2/6/98
Troy Dayton, American University DRC U-NET Coordinator Plug in, stand up, speak out! In almost every successful reform movement of the last fifty years, both here and abroad, college students have been a major impetus for change. Whether in ending US involvement in the Vietnam War, standing up for democracy at Tiananmen Square in China, or protesting the military dictatorship in Burma, students have provided the noise that put the ideas of reform organizations into action. Our situation makes us uniquely qualified to make a huge impact on U.S. drug policy. We generally don't work nine to five, we constantly interact with thousands of other open minded students, and we have immediate access to professors who see how self-destructive our current attitudes and policies are and are often willing to help us try to change them. Also, it wasn't so long ago that we were in high school, so we know first hand that all the money poured into the drug war, and all of the lives the war has cost, have not affected the availability of drugs to teenagers. Therefore, we more than anyone else, can retort the drug warriors claims that their war is protecting kids. The drug war will not end until campuses erupt. No matter how many full-time people work on this issue, major changes won't crystallize until students get active. Also, we have two things in 1998 that no other movement has ever had: a massive college population, and free access to the Internet! That is why DRCNet is starting DRC U-NET, a discussion group for campus activists. Here is our chance to share ideas and spread the word. Do you ever wonder how to deal with people who don't take your ideas seriously? Are you looking for ways to increase awareness and activism on your campus? Do you have a campus reform group that you would like to make more effective? Do you have a project that students from around the country can help you with? Are you interested in legislation that directly affects campus drug policy? Do you have experience that others might benefit from? Do you want to start a drug policy reform group, but are afraid or don't know how? Do you want to meet other drug policy activists from all across the country? Around the world? These are the kinds of things that can happen when you plug into DRC U-NET. Let's say that you or your organization has an activist project where you need letters and/or phone calls made. How many do you think will call or write from your school? 20, maybe 30? What if over a thousand college students received your message about calling and writing? Do you think that would help? DRCNet has nearly 200 college campuses represented among our subscribers, including some of the most successful activists in the country. Wouldn't you like to have the benefit of their experience? With these kind of numbers as a start, we have an immediate opportunity to activate a large portion of America's college students against this pointless war. We will use this connection to significantly increase both our size and effectiveness in generating mass involvement. Information that gets shared on DRC U-NET will also give The Week Online better information about what is happening on college campuses. That means that news from your campus will get out to thousands of reform-minded people. This is a war on young people and it's time for young people to put some action behind the ideas of doctors, lawyers, and full time lobbyists. Let's let the drug warriors know that this never-ending war is putting our peers in jail cells and coffins and that we won't stand for it any longer. 1997 was a huge year for drug policy reform, both at home and around the world. Let's keep that momentum going by getting college campuses active. As the millennium approaches, our generation, the first to have grown up on the Internet, will use the power of technology and the strength of our ideas to change the world in very significant ways. SIGN UP to DRC U-NET TODAY! TO JOIN the DRC U-NET discussion list, e-mail us at [email protected] with the words "SUBSCRIBE U-NET" in the subject of your message. (Activation of the mailing list has been delayed a couple of days for technical reasons, but we will subscribe you and send you instructions as soon as it goes on.) NOTICE: DRC U-NET is a national conversation among students (and interested faculty) about changing harmful policies. It is not a forum to discuss growing tips, promote drug use, or facilitate illegal transactions. If anyone decides to post messages that are inappropriate to a policy/activism forum, they may be removed from the list.
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