A new registered student organization at Eastern is petitioning for a new drug policy to be passed on Eastern’s campus before potentially expanding statewide.

Eastern’s Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter was established by Jimmy Stanley, a junior elementary education major, to educate and inform people about current drug and alcohol policies.

Stanley said an antagonist the group has had to combat is the stigma of being a drug-orientated group.

“People will look at us like we are stoners, but it is about the drug policy,” Stanley said. “That is a completely different realm.”

SSDP wants to pass a Good Samaritan Policy in Charleston, Stanley said.

The Good Samaritan Policy would allow students who are underage and intoxicated or under the influence of drugs to call for help in an emergency without receiving punishment.

The RSO is part of an international network of students who are concerned about the impact drug abuse has on our communities, but who also know the War on Drugs is failing our generation and our society, according to the SSDP’s international website.

Stanley said the goal of the Good Samaritan Policy is to eliminate the hesitation of calling for help when an emergency happens.

Mike Abid, the vice-president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, said the group is currently working on a petition to show Eastern’s administration that it is a campus-wide issue.

“We want to get signatures and be able to show President Perry that this is a concern on our campus,” Abid said.

It would be a tragedy for an Eastern student to die before this issue is taken seriously, Abid said.

If supporting this policy increases the possibility of a student picking up a phone and calling the police then it should be approved, Abid said.

“We want students to make split decisions and not worry about ‘what will happen if I call,'” Abid said. “To be punished for saving lives doesn’t make sense.”

Abid also said he does not want students to abuse the policy.

“We do not want the law to be a get out of jail free card but rather an incentive for students to make the right decision,” Abid said.

This policy could save a life, Abid said.

“We have to start small (in Charleston), but our goal is to make the Good Samaritan Policy a state wide policy,” Abid said.

The SSDP also wants to educate students on drug policies, Stanley said.

“Many people are hesitant to join our RSO,” Abid said. “They do no realize we are the middle man. We do not condemn or condone drugs or alcohol.”

Stanley said the increase of drug use is proof of current drug policies failure.

The percentage of 18-25 year olds who have used any illegal drug rose from 19.6 in 2008 to 21.2 in 2009, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention,

The Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP), whose job is to find humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs to people and societies, declared that the War on Drugs was a failure on June 2.

The criminalization and repressive measures directed at producers, traffickers and consumers of illegal drugs have clearly failed to effectively curtail supply or consumption, according to GCDP.

“It is best to educate and we need better education,” he said.

Michael Gillespie, the assistant professor of sociology and the faculty sponsor of SSDP, said people need to realize there is a big difference between drug use and drug education.

“When policies are misdirected, anytime we can stimulate debate it is important to do so Gillespie said.

“When it comes to drug policies we want people to be rational and looking at the facts,” Stanley said. “We do not want people to just be closed minded.”

The Students for a Sensible Drug Policy will meet at 5 p.m. on Thursday in the Charleston-Mattoon Room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Alicia Jenkins can be reached at 581-7942 aljenkins@eiu.edu.