The Canadian Drug Policy Coalition announces DJ Larkin as new Executive Director starting April 2023

Following a nationwide search, the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC) is pleased to announce that DJ Larkin has been chosen as the organization’s new Executive Director. DJ will succeed Donald MacPherson, the founding Executive Director of CDPC, who is retiring later this year after over a decade with the Coalition.

DJ currently lives on the unceded Indigenous lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) & səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples, and is committed to lifelong learning, self-improvement, and action to dismantle settler colonialism.

DJ Larkin is a respected lawyer and legal advocate who has worked on issues impacting people experiencing criminalization and systemic marginalization for over a decade. DJ has worked to centre the voices of people who use drugs through support for peer-led groups in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and in working with individuals and organizations in numerous other regions and communities. DJ has represented Indigenous governments—both elected and hereditary—in litigation regarding rights, land, and resource management. In 2017-2018, DJ also co-investigated and co-authored an in-depth report on systemic exclusion and marginalization of people living at the intersection of poverty, housing insecurity, and criminalized substance use aimed at creating systemic legislative and policy reform.

The CDPC vision is clear and its mission unwavering,” DJ said of the Coalition. “This reflects the work of generations of brilliant and dedicated people who use drugs, activists, academics, allies, advocates, and policy leaders like Donald MacPherson. I also know that so much more work needs to be done, and I have enormous shoes to fill. I’m honoured to have the opportunity, and I look forward to getting to work later this spring.”

DJ Larkin will join the CDPC as executive director in April 2023. 

Contact us:
Alessia Matsos
Communications Coordinator
Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
[email protected]
(905)-869-7451

About Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

Advocating for public health- and human rights-based drug policy grounded in evidence, compassion, and social justice