Substance Use & Addiction

Kevin A. Sabet, PhD

President & CEO

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. He is currently the President and CEO of both The Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS) and SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana), two non-profit organizations he founded with Congressman Patrick Kennedy. His first book, Reefer Sanity: Seven Great Myths About Marijuana, was published by Beaufort in 2013, and its second edition released in 2018. 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, winning the Next Generation Indie Book Award in the Social Justice Category. The book was later optioned by Wayfarer Studios for the documentary film, THC INC, for which he serves as an executive producer. His new book, One Nation Under the Influence, was published by Polity in November of 2025. 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 op-eds 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. He is currently a J.D. Candidate at the University of Denver - Sturm College of Law.

Matt Connelly

Vice President of Communications

Matt Connelly is Vice President of Communications for the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS), where he leads the organization's national communications, public affairs, and media strategy focused on drug policy and public health.

A nationally recognized communications strategist, Connelly has advised some of America's most recognizable public figures, helped shape presidential and U.S. Senate campaigns, and worked with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofit organizations—and one Terminator. Connelly began his communications career managing the executive newsroom for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in California. As Schwarzenegger's newsroom manager, he monitored every major news development affecting the Governor and the state across dozens of media markets, helping shape rapid-response communications in one of the nation's largest and most demanding media environments.

In the political arena, Connelly has filled communications roles for multiple presidential campaigns. As a traveling press secretary on a national presidential campaign, he worked daily with reporters from every major national news outlet while traveling the country.

Connelly also served as a press secretary during Colorado's closely watched 2014 U.S. Senate race—one of the most competitive in the country—helping guide day-to-day communications under intense national scrutiny. Following that race, he joined a national Senate campaign committee as National Press Secretary, helping develop and execute communications strategy for Senate races across the country.

Beyond politics, Connelly has advised corporations, nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, and community businesses on strategic communications, media relations, crisis response, and digital storytelling. He is also an entrepreneur who has built businesses in public relations, video production, and independent news media.

Connelly is a graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and lives in Colorado, where he enjoys trail running, exploring the mountains, and spending time outdoors.

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.

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 3rd generation Washingtonian, proudly served as a Sgt. with DC Fire and EMS and obtained his MPA from The GWU Trachtenberg School of Public Policy

Brendan Fairfield

Director of External Programs

Brendan serves as the Director of External Programs for SAM and FDPS, where he leads the organization's external engagement initiatives, including strategic partnerships, national speaking engagements, and educational programming. He oversees the planning and execution of SAM's conferences, trainings, and public events while working closely with researchers, clinicians, advocates, and community leaders to advance evidence-based drug policy and public education. Prior to joining SAM, Brendan served as Executive Director of Next Chapter, LLC, an organization founded by former U.S. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy. In that role, he developed national speaking engagements, strategic partnerships, and consulting opportunities focused on behavioral health and addiction policy. Before entering the behavioral health field, Brendan spent a decade in professional baseball, serving in executive leadership positions with the Somerset Patriots and Atlantic City Surf. As Vice President and later General Manager, he led business development, marketing, sponsorship, and community engagement efforts, helping to grow organizational partnerships and strengthen relationships throughout the communities his teams served.

Jordan Davidson

Government Affairs Director

Jordan Davidson is Director of Government Affairs at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and its affiliated Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions, where he leads the organization's federal policy and congressional strategy. Jordan entered long-term addiction recovery at 17 after struggling with cannabis use disorder — an experience that shapes his work on youth prevention and drug policy today. Before joining SAM in 2019, he worked in Connecticut politics at the state and federal levels. On Capitol Hill, Jordan helped shepherd passage of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act, the first marijuana reform bill ever signed into law, and led successful efforts to defeat the MORE Act, the States Reform Act, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, and the SAFE Banking Act. More recently, he has been at the center of the fight to close the loophole that allowed intoxicating hemp-derived THC products to flood the consumer market. Jordan drove SAM's strategy to enact a federal hemp THC ban and defended it against industry-backed rollback efforts. He also leads SAM's work on kratom, including federal scheduling of the drug. Jordan is a frequent guest speaker for members of Congress and organizations nationwide on substance use prevention and youth outreach. He holds a BA in Political Science from American University and is a part-time J.D. candidate at George Washington University Law School.

John Spurlock

Chief Development Officer

Iman Lohrasbi

Federal and State Policy Associate

Iman Lohrasbi is a Federal and State Policy Associate at the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS). In this role, Iman provides support and guidance to state-level allies and advocates, focusing on the promotion of health-centered drug policies. Additionally, Iman works in FDP's federal affairs department on Capitol Hill. Prior to joining FDPS, Iman worked in immigration law and served as an English tutor for recently immigrated students. Iman has a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.