Location Washington, District of Columbia, United States Regions Washington DC Metro Area, Southern US Gender Male
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As director of federal policies, Dan executes MPP’s lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill. Prior to his promotion to this position, Dan served for 3.5 years as a legislative analyst in the State Policies department.After joining MPP in 2009, Dan led the organization’s efforts in the D.C. Council and Department of Health, authoring the numerically scored
competitive bidding process used to award licenses to cultivation centers and dispensaries. In 2011, Dan was instrumental in expanding Vermont’s medical marijuana law to include state-regulated dispensaries and led the lobbying effort to provide patients with debilitating medical conditions in Maryland with an affirmative defense against charges of marijuana possession.
In 2013, he shepherded medical marijuana legislation through the Illinois Legislature, making it the second largest medical marijuana state and capping off a 10-year lobbying effort by MPP, as well as expanding Maryland’s legal protections to caregivers and establishing a statewide medical marijuana research program. In 2014, he led MPP’s successful efforts to decriminalize marijuana in Washington, D.C. He also led the lobbying effort in Congress to pass a historic amendment through the U.S. House of Representatives defunding DEA enforcement of federal law in states with medical marijuana laws, the first time that either chamber of Congress passed any measure in favor of marijuana reform.
Before working at MPP, Dan practiced law as an assistant prosecutor in Vinton County, Ohio. He has also worked in the office of former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, the Ohio EPA, and Columbus Legal Aid Society and was a founding partner of Viridis Law Group in southern California. He is a graduate of the Ohio State University and received his J.D. from Capital University Law School, where he served on the Law Review and National Moot Court Team and received numerous scholarships, including one for his service in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
