Cat Packer

Cat Packer is the Director of Drug Markets and Legal Regulation at the Drug Policy Alliance, in addition to the Distinguished Cannabis Policy Practitioner in Residence at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, Vice Chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition, Advisor to the Parabola Center and is a contributing author to the “Thomson Reuters Cannabis Law Deskbook.” She envisions drug policy reform as both an opportunity and responsibility to promote harm reduction and advance equity and social justice. Packer is recognized as the US’s first person of color to lead a medical and adult-use cannabis regulatory program. From 2017 to 2022, Cat served as the first Executive Director of Los Angeles’s Department of Cannabis Regulation where she led efforts to advise and implement cannabis business licensing and regulation in “the world’s largest cannabis market.” Under her leadership, the City of Los Angeles licensed over 1,200 cannabis businesses, collected over $320 million in cannabis tax revenue, and became one of the first jurisdictions in the nation to establish programming designed to promote equitable ownership and employment opportunities in the cannabis industry. She received a bachelor’s degree in political science, a master’s degree in public policy and management, and a Juris Doctor from The Ohio State University and was named the 2020 Recipient of the Moritz College of Law Outstanding Recent Alumna Award.