Grant Smith

As deputy director of DPA’s office of national affairs, Grant Smith lobbies to reduce the harms associated with drug use and the war on drugs. Smith works to advance DPA’s federal legislative agenda in Washington and helps to shape policy both at the federal level and within the District of Columbia. His areas of focus have included drug overdose prevention, emerging drugs, collateral consequences, marijuana law reform, and the intersection of immigration and drug policies.

Before joining the organization, Smith served as a victim services advocate with the federal Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia, completed a one-year legislative internship with the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations focused on advancing drug policy reform in Washington, and completed internships with DPA and Transform Drug Policy Foundation in the U.K.

Smith completed a B.S. in political science with a concentration in criminal justice and congressional politics at American University. A native of Savannah, Georgia, where he was engaged in antiracism activism, Smith was drawn into drug policy reform after learning about the racial disparities inherent in the drug war.