Lindsay LaSalle

Managing Director of Policy

Lindsay LaSalle is Managing Director of Policy with the Drug Policy Alliance and an expert and strategist in the areas of harm reduction, treatment, and criminal justice reform as it relates to drug policy. Lindsay advocates for a public health approach to problematic drug use that is grounded in science and compassion and for alternative solutions to discriminatory drug war practices that have intentionally targeted communities of color and have resulted in gross disparities in enforcement, criminalization, incarceration, and health impacts.

LaSalle leads the Drug Policy Alliance’s strategic policy initiatives in all areas of drug policy reform. She also drafts harm reduction, treatment, criminal justice, and health-related legislation across the country, including bills that eliminate or reform criminal penalties for personal use and possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia, reduce the role of police and law enforcement, provide legal protections for people who seek medical assistance in the event of an overdose, improve access to the overdose antidote naloxone, permit syringe exchange programs, remove barriers to treatment medications such as methadone and buprenorphine, authorize new interventions such as supervised consumption sites and drug checking services, and advance novel drug research. LaSalle works to repair the harms of racialized drug policies that have devasted communities of color and exacerbated health and other disparities.

LaSalle has been published in peer-reviewed journals, has testified before numerous legislative and government bodies in the United States, including the United States Sentencing Commission, and is regularly invited as an expert to present at conferences and universities.

LaSalle, or her work, has been cited in The New York Times, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, CNN.com, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Rolling Stone, and many other media outlets. Lindsay has also been featured on NPR’s national “Morning Edition” program as well as a variety of podcasts and radio programs. She received both her B.A. and J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining DPA, LaSalle worked at Morrison & Foerster LLP for three years on commercial litigation matters, while maintaining an active pro bono practice.