First Cannabis Czar Cat Packer in Los Angeles resigns

Cat Packer stepped down from her role as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Department of Cannabis Regulation (DCR), which is home to one of the largest and most sophisticated cannabis markets in the world. It is with gratitude that we thank her for her service as the city’s first “cannabis tsarina”.

Packer served for nearly five years as the first person to assume the role of Executive Director of the DCR. The department is responsible for administering the cannabis licensing and regulation program established by the Los Angeles City Council.

DCR processes all applications for thousands of cannabis licenses in the City of Los Angeles, makes licensing decisions or licensing recommendations to the Cannabis Regulation Commission, and regulates the operations of licensed cannabis businesses in the city.

Under the title, Packer advised Los Angeles officials on cannabis law, policy and regulation and oversaw the city’s licensed commercial cannabis market. It was a challenging position for anyone to master. With Packer at the helm, over 1,200 business licenses have been issued.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti initially announced her departure on Twitter. “Under Cat’s leadership, DCR has issued over 1,200 licenses, of which over 350 have been granted to social justice applicants,” Garcetti wrote in a tweet. “DCR has generated over $320 million in tax revenue since 2018. Cat’s tenure at DCR established the department as a national model for establishing equitable cannabis policy and implementation.”

After nearly 5 years at the helm of the Cannabis Regulation Division, Cat Packer is stepping down as Executive Director.

When we formed DCR we knew we needed a determined leader who would not shy away from controversy surrounding that responsibility, Cat was that leader.

— MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) March 9, 2022

Packer wrote a March 14 resignation statement, outlining some of her accomplishments during her tenure as chief executive. “I am confident that the City will continue to deepen its commitment to address cannabis policy reform and the disproportionate impact of the War on Drugs, and to enhance existing efforts to make cannabis public policy more accountable and equitable,” Packer wrote. “Furthermore, I am confident that DCR will continue to keep justice at the heart of its mission and to expand and improve cannabis programs and services.”

Iron out licensing hurdles

Garcetti appointed Packer to the position in August 2017 after the city’s voters approved local adult-use cannabis regulation and taxation earlier that year.

Packer faced overwhelming odds and pressures during her reign, with challenges that were to be expected in America’s second largest city. Approval procedures were under constant fire. ​​In 2020, for example, applicants for a cannabis business license in Los Angeles sued the city, claiming the process for applying for a license was flawed.

The Social Equity Owners and Workers Association filed a lawsuit demanding that the city consider all applications on a first-come, first-served basis or develop a new system that is fairer and more transparent.

According to The EUR/Electronic Urban Report, Virgil Grant, co-founder of the California Minority Alliance, said Packer was the “fall person” who took the blame for various problems from the start, while others cited other problems.

“It has taken a significant amount of time for us to obtain the resources, whether employee or otherwise, to move our licensing program forward,” Packer told the High Times last July. Packer’s staff eventually tripled to meet growing demands. Over the past year, her team has grown from a tiny staff of five to a more reasonable staff of 15.

Packer originally wanted to be a civil rights attorney and focus on LGBTQ rights. But things changed in 2012 when Colorado and Washington legalized adult-use cannabis. Although aware of the problem, she did not think critically about the subject for several years.

But then, in 2015, her senior year of law school, Cat Packer began taking classes on how the law affects everyday life. When she was introduced to The New Jim Crow by civil rights attorney Michelle Alexander, a professor at the university, she said her eyes were opened. She agreed that nothing has contributed more to the systematic mass incarceration of people of color in the United States than the War on Drugs.

In 2016, while working with Californians for responsible marijuana reform, Packer championed Proposition 64 with the Roll Up the Vote party featuring The Game and DJ Nitrane. Around this time, High Times received emails from her and her campaign urging volunteers to call voters and get to work.

Meanwhile, Michelle Garakian, Associate Executive Director of the Department of Cannabis Regulation, has been appointed as Interim Executive Director. Garakian was also a frequent correspondent with cannabis-related media.