Webinar | Advancing Equity in Cannabis Policy: The Role of Research

Cat Packer is a leading expert on cannabis law and policy who envisions cannabis policy reform as both an opportunity and responsibility to promote harm reduction and advance equity and social justice. Currently, Ms. Packer serves as the Director of Drug Markets and Legal Regulation at Drug Policy Alliance, Distinguished Cannabis Policy Practitioner in Residence at the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, Vice Chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition, and is a contributing author to the Thomas Reuters Cannabis Law Deskbook. Ms. Packer is recognized as the first person of color in the nation to lead a medical and adult-use cannabis regulatory program. From 2017 to 2022, Ms. Packer served as the first Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation where she led efforts to advise and implement cannabis business licensing and regulation in ‘the world’s largest cannabis market.’ Prior to her role as a regulator, Ms. Packer worked for the Drug Policy Alliance where she organized cannabis-related legislative and public affairs strategies and partnerships at the state and local level. 

Renee M. Johnson, PhD, MPH, is Associate Professor & Vice Chair for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the Department of Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research addresses violence and injury prevention, substance use and overdose prevention, and adolescent health. Much of her work involves marginalized populations including people of color, LGBT youth, and youth in low-income, urban areas. Dr. Johnson has investigated trends in the prevalence of marijuana/cannabis use among adolescents in response to the evolving policy landscape. She earned a BA from Spelman College, and MPH and PhD degrees from University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. 

Shaleen Title is founder and director of Parabola Center, a nonprofit think tank focused on drug policy to protect people, not corporations. She was an inaugural cannabis regulator in Massachusetts. After completing her term as a commissioner, she authored two top-ranking publications, “Fair and Square: How to Effectively Incorporate Social Equity into Cannabis Laws and Regulations” and “Bigger is Not Better: Preventing Monopolies in the National Cannabis Market” as a fellow at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Drug Enforcement and Policy Center. Shaleen has spent over 20 years writing, passing, and implementing equitable cannabis laws and has testified before governmental bodies around the world about reparative marijuana laws. She is a founding member of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition. Dubbed "the people's weed watchdog" by Boston Magazine, she is the recipient of multiple lifetime achievement awards for her work as an activist, regulator, and author.

Jane Appleyard Allen is a Senior Manager of Public Health at RTI International with more than 20 years of experience evaluating state and national public education campaigns, conducting formative research for campaign message development, and conducting research to understand consumer perceptions of cannabis and tobacco products and policies. Ms. Allen is interested in unintended effects of public policy, research to reduce racial inequities in health outcomes, and research to advance equity in the context of cannabis policy.