Director of Drug Markets and Legal Regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance and Ohio native, Cat Packer, has found herself at the epicenter of America’s cannabis reform movement.
In 2015, Packer graduated from Ohio State University with a master’s in public policy and a law degree, and acknowledges that her interest in public policy felt personal. What ignited her interest in drug policy reform and cannabis reform in particular came from a marijuana law and policy course she took as an elective during her final semester at Ohio State.
“While I was taking this class I came to learn about the Drug War, the impacts that it had on communities of color, and how our drug laws weren’t working,” Packer said. “I was kind of shocked to understand how impactful in particular cannabis possession arrests had been for communities of color.”
From Grassroots to Government
Immediately after graduating from law school, Packer went on to work for a marijuana legalization campaign in Ohio that proved to be unsuccessful. However, she would soon find her footing when she went to work on California’s marijuana legalization campaign. That campaign was organized by the Drug Policy Alliance in support of Proposition 64, which was also known as the Adult Use of Marijuana Act. It was passed by California voters in 2016 and effectively decriminalized cannabis under state law.
When Packer first joined the Drug Policy Alliance, she took on the role of campaign coordinator, spearheading the organization’s grassroots efforts for California’s marijuana legalization campaign. After the initiative succeeded, she worked closely with jurisdictions across the state to help them navigate its provisions.
Leading the Nation’s Largest Market
From 2017 to 2022, Packer served as the first Executive Director of Los Angeles’s Department of Cannabis Regulation, guiding licensing and oversight in the world’s largest cannabis market. Under her leadership, the city licensed more than 1,200 businesses, generated $320 million in tax revenue, and pioneered programs promoting equity in the cannabis industry.
“Taking the role as Executive Director for the city of L.A. back in 2017 made me the first person of color in the United States to run both an adult use and medical cannabis program,” Packer said. “I’d go to some of these regulators conferences for a while, and be the only person of color in the room.”
Building Power Through Representation
Realizing the need for more inclusive policies, Packer co-founded the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC) to educate lawmakers and agencies on creating sustainable cannabis regulations that fulfill the reparative promise of legalization and decriminalization.
“This is a group of people of color who are in government, who are either currently serving in these regulatory roles, or have previously served in these regulatory roles,” Packer said.” “I’ve continued to urge the CRCC to be at the vanguard of making sure that we’re telling truth to power.”
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Cautious Optimism
When it comes to the future of the cannabis industry, Packer is cautiously optimistic, and says that harm reduction, and the destigmatization of cannabis and other drug use should be more accepted by the legislators responsible for crafting the country’s drug laws.
“If the policymakers and politicians were smart and folks wanted to be democratic. Yes. Legalization is possible,” Packer said. “Unfortunately, cannabis legalization…has always been politicized and it’s kind of historically always been to the detriment of community.”
She continued, “The politics are actually on our side today, with legalization and further reforms. And yet, we still have folks that are trying to make this a partisan and political issue when it doesn’t have to be.”
