High school and university students from across the country gathered at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. last weekend in an annual meeting to address their concerns about the U.S. government’s war on drugs.

Sponsored by the Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a national group whose goal is to increase awareness about the unfair drug policies, the “Third Annual Students for Sensible Drug Policy Conference” attracted about 250 students in an attempt to draw support of new options in federal drug policies.

“It is our responsibility to expose the pervasive lies of the war on drugs and promote alternatives such as harm reduction and drug education,” said Ohio University student and SSDP Board of Directors member Abby Blair in a press release about the event.

The event boasted various seminars and speakers which educated audiences about both domestic and international drug policies as well as urged participants to take an active role by utilizing legislative and media practices.

“Basically, where the attention is turning now is lobbying our Congress people, and basically letting them know where we stand,” said Sean Luse, president of Ohio State’s chapter of the SSDP.

Luse said that for drug policies to be effective, the government should focus on teaching people how to use drugs responsibly instead of simply enforcing unfair and failing policies of abstinence.

“It’s a known fact that a lot of people on college campuses do use drugs, alcohol, tobacco, ecstasy – these kinds of things do happen,” Luse said. “The message they receive most is abstinence -‘don’t do it, just say no’ – and we know that doesn’t work.”

Former Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader also spoke at the end of the seminar; he criticized the government’s war on drugs, but also cautioned that legalizing drugs must be done for concrete reasons.

“You cannot get credibility in this struggle if you don’t urge everybody not to take drugs,” he said. “Some want to legalize drugs just so they can take more drugs.”

According to Luse, one of the issues discussed at the conference is the SSDP’s plan to nationally oppose the use of drug testing in public high schools and universities.

“It’s a growing trend that these schools are trying to implement broad-based drug testing for all students,” he said. “It’s just a gross invasion of privacy, and it criminalizes all students when the majority of students don’t use drugs.”

Luse said the OSU chapter of the SSDP will participate in the upcoming national day of action on Dec. 9 to oppose the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s upcoming ban on foods and beverages containing hemp.