Substance Use & Addiction

Kevin A. Sabet, PhD

President & CEO

KEVIN A. SABET, PHD An affiliate of Yale University’s Institution for Social and Policy Studies and the Medical School, dubbed by NBC News as the “prodigy of drug politics,” author, consultant, and the only bipartisan drug policy advisor to three U.S. presidential administrations, Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D., has studied, researched, written about, and implemented drug policy for more than 25 years. His first book, Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana, was published by Beaufort (Midpoint) in 2013, and its second edition released in 2018. He is also the co-editor of Marijuana and Contemporary Health, published by Oxford University Press. His bestselling book, Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn’t Want You to Know, was distributed by Simon & Schuster in 2021 and released to critical acclaim. Dr. Sabet’s work as a government advisor began in the Clinton Administration as a researcher, and he was the senior speechwriter on drug policy in the Bush Administration (2002-2003). He returned to government in 2009, where he was asked to assist in drafting President Obama’s National Drug Control Strategy as a senior advisor. In 2011, he stepped down after being the only drug policy staffer to have served as a political appointee in a Democrat and Republican administration. He has since been profiled in Politico, Crain's Business, Salon Magazine, the International Business Times, The Daily Beast, Vox, and many other publications as America's point person on drug policy issues. He has spoken at the Allen and Co. Sun Valley Conference, the Aspen Ideas, New Yorker, and Politicon festivals, at the Puebla Ideas Conference to debate the former presidents of Mexico and Colombia, on the Organization of American States blue ribbon commission advising hemispheric drug policy, and in hundreds of forums and discussions. He has been featured on the front page of the New York Times and in virtually every major media publication and news channel on the subject of drug policy. He has published op-eds in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and dozens of other publications. Dr. Sabet’s regular blog is housed at the Huffington Post and two of his opeds have earned him a “Five Best Columns” distinction by The Atlantic. Dr. Sabet also regularly advises foreign governments, several non-governmental organizations working to reduce drug abuse and its consequences, and serves in an international role as an advisor, in various capacities, to the United Nations and other multi-national organizations. He is the winner of numerous drug policy awards, including the 2014 Nils Bejerot Award for Global Drug Prevention, given at Stockholm City Hall by the anti-drug organization chaired by H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden, the 2019 National Narcotics Lifetime Achievement Award, and the John P. McGovern Award for Drug Prevention given by the Institute for Behavior and Health, and Robert DuPont, the founding director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He received his Doctorate of Philosophy and Masters of Science from Oxford University as a Marshall Scholar in 2007 and 2002, respectively, and his B.A. with high honors in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001.

Luke Niforatos

Executive Vice President

Luke Niforatos serves as the Executive Vice President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading drug policy experts. Leveraging more than a decade working on drug, addiction and health care issues, Luke drives the strategy behind SAM’s federal, state, and educational initiatives. Luke has testified in state capitols across America. He is a sought-after guest on major media outlets including ABC, Fox News, NBC, CNBC, CSPAN, Newsmax, and network affiliates, as well as syndicated and local radio shows in markets coast to coast. Luke has been featured in Time Magazine and as a speaker at drug policy events held by The Economist, the United Nations’ Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and hundreds of town halls. Prior to joining SAM, he was the co-founder of a successful healthcare company. Luke attended the University of Denver and holds a Masters from Johns Hopkins University.

Teresa Haley

Senior Policy Advisor

Teresa Haley serves as Senior Policy Advisor to FDPS and the President of the Illinois Chapter of the NAACP. She received her bachelor’s degree in Communication in 1992 and her master’s degree in Public Administration in 1994 from the University of Illinois. She is a longtime passionate civil rights activist, public policy advocate, professional trainer and dynamic speaker. In 2015, she became the first female president of the Illinois NAACP State Conference and is serving her sixth consecutive term as president of the Springfield Branch NAACP. She spearheaded the first-ever Springfield Branch NAACP Office and Education Center. She chairs the Economic Development Workgroup for the Illinois Department of Public Health Covid Taskforce and Springfield Airport Authority, which helps small black-owned businesses stay alive. She serves on the governor’s Justice, Equity and Opportunity Initiative Transition Committee and the Governor’s Commission for Environmental Justice. Among the numerous honors Haley has received is the first-ever NAACP Activist of the Year Image Award in 2020, the Community Service Award from the Frontier International Club in 2020. Teresa was the first black female to receive the Springfield’s First Citizens Award in 2019. In February 2022, Teresa received the Alumni Humanitarian Award from the University of Illinois for her outstanding involvement and dedication, significant contribution of leadership and service. In March 2022, Teresa received the Paul Harris Fellow Award - Community Service Award from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.

Jaime Zerbe

Chief of Staff

Jaime Zerbe currently serves as SAM’s Chief of Staff where she focuses on internal and external communications. Substance use, specifically regarding the opioid epidemic, is a personal issue for Jaime: her late father spent the last almost decade of his life (reluctantly) on opioids. Despite taking it exactly as prescribed, he was one of the countless Americans who unknowingly became dependent on oxycontin after being promised a long-term “addiction-free” pain solution. Jaime’s time in DC began like so many others: answering the phone in her congressman’s office. After some time on the Hill, Jaime served as the Legislative Director at a national nonprofit and advised on drug policy as well as communications strategy. In 2020, Jaime started a successful aviation-focused digital marketing and branding company that she named after her late father. Jaime has a heart for mentoring and encouraging young women who are at their career crossroads. Jaime and her husband live in Virginia with their black Labrador.

Marcia Lee Taylor

Senior Advisor for Government Affairs

Marcia Lee Taylor is the former President and CEO of the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids and founder of MLT Strategies, a behavioral health consulting firm.  Marcia has 30 years of public and private sector experience in the addiction field.

In her work at the Partnership, Marcia oversaw the organization’s relationships with government agencies, elected officials and key stakeholder groups, managed all fundraising and development efforts and served as a media spokesperson.  She forged partnerships with Google, Meta, Walmart, and Paramount, as well as numerous pharmaceutical companies.  She also created and ran the Medicine Abuse Project, a successful five-year campaign to drive down teen misuse of prescription medication, partnering with eight government agencies, fifteen corporations and more than 80 non-profit organizations.

Previously, she served as the Senior Advisor for Drug Policy and Research for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs as well as the Democratic Staff Director of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, working for then-Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. In that capacity, she worked on a wide variety of drug policy bills, which were enacted into law, aimed at curbing the proliferation of methamphetamine, ecstasy and GHB as well as drug treatment, prevention and enforcement initiatives. She has also worked for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York and served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps as a community organizer in Baltimore.

Marcia is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Georgetown University, where she has served as an Adjunct Professor. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and recently completed nine years of Board Service for the United States Anti-Doping Agency. She and her husband Jeff are the proud parents of two teenage daughters.

Will Jones III

Director of Community Engagement and Outreach

Coming from a legacy of civil rights leaders in Washington, D.C, Will Jones is an experienced speaker and community activist working on issues of social justice at the local and national level. Partnering with national drug policy advisors and leaders around Washington, D.C., in 2014 Jones founded Two Is Enough DC to raise awareness of the predatory marijuana commercial industry which disproportionally targets disenfranchised communities similar to Alcohol and Big Tobacco. He later started the campaign against marijuana legalization and commercialization in D.C. Mr. Jones has been featured on a wide variety of TV, radio and print outlets talking about marijuana policy and other issues including NBC, Reuters TV, CBS, BBC World, Al Jazeera, C-span the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Associated Press. Mr Jones is also a husband, father and 3rd generation Washingtonian. He proudly serves as a DC Firefighter/EMT and obtained his MPA from The GWU Trachtenberg School of Public Policy.

Brendan Fairfield

Director of External Programs

Brendan is responsible for creating and implementing fundraising plans, cultivating donor relationships, and organizing trainings and speaking engagements. Brendan served as the Executive Director of Next Chapter, LLC, a company founded by former U.S. Representative, Patrick J. Kennedy. In his role with Next Chapter, Brendan spearheaded development of speaking engagements and consulting positions within the behavioral health space for the former Congressman. Before Next Chapter, Brendan spent 10 years working in the front office of minor league baseball teams serving as the Vice President of the Somerset Patriots Professional Baseball Club and then onto the Atlantic City Surf Professional Baseball Club where he was the General Manager.

Jordan Davidson

Communications and Legislative Affairs Officer

Jordan Davidson serves as the Foundation’s Government Affairs Manager. When he was 17 years old, Jordan entered long-term addiction recovery after struggling with cannabis use disorder. Prior to joining FDPS, Jordan worked in Connecticut politics at the state and federal level. At FDPS, Jordan manages federal policy on Capitol Hill. Jordan has engaged the Foundation with stakeholders in fight against drugs in Congress and established FDPS as a key player in our country’s efforts to curb addiction. Jordan specializes in youth outreach and substance abuse prevention. He has been invited as a guest speaker by organizations and members of Congress across the country. He has a BA in Political Science from American University in Washington, D.C.

Connor Kubeisy

Policy Analyst

Connor Kubeisy is a Policy Analyst with the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions and its sister organization, Smart Approaches to Marijuana, after having joined them as a Communications and Policy Associate in January 2022. He began his career as an intern in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy during the Trump and Biden administrations. In 2022, he served as the Campaign Manager of the group that helped defeat the ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in North Dakota. He co-authored a chapter in the ASAM Principles of Addiction Medicine, 7th edition, about the impact of the cannabis industry on cannabis use disorder. Additionally, he is a member of the National Safety Council's Impairment Advisory Board and the Global Burden of Disease Study's Collaborator Network. Connor received the Director’s Award from Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and was selected to attend the Harvard Kennedy School’s Public Policy Leadership Conference. He was recognized by the Washington Examiner as “an emerging voice in the drug policy field.” Connor graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley, with a B.A. in Political Science, where he was a student manager with the school's Division 1 baseball team and won the Kavanagh Award from the Society for American Baseball Research. He previously received an A.A. from Moorpark College, where he was named a member of the First Team All-California Community College Academic Team. He is currently a Master of Public Health student, in health policy, at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where he was elected to serve as the Public Relations Coordinator for the Harvard Chan Student Association.

Marcus Edelstein

Communications and Data Specialist

Marcus Edelstein serves as a Communications and Data Specialist for FDPS. He analyzes data to create reports and presentations on the impacts of marijuana policy and legislation. Prior to joining FDPS, Marcus served as a Strategy Analyst at KGO and Survey Operations Fellow at Bully Pulpit Interactive. Graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics and a minor in Political Science, Marcus sharpened his statistical and research skills while contributing to various projects and surveys.