Mary Stafford holds a Juris Doctorate with a concentration in Tax Law from the Villanova School of Law and the Loyola University College of Law, is a Fellow of the Institute of Politics, Loyola University, and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana.

Originally from New Orleans, the Staffords moved after Hurricane Katrina to the northeast in 2005. Her son, Clayton, died of a heroin/fentanyl overdose on February 4, 2018 after a 13-year battle with mental illness and drug addiction. Since that time, Mary has worked as an advocate for drug policy reform, public awareness of Medicated Assisted Treatment for opioid users, and the distribution of Naloxone.

A former political campaign manager and Chief of Staff in New Orleans city government, she hopes to offer her skills and experience to help in the fight to revolutionize our society’s criminal justice and health care systems in the elimination of prohibition and the drug war, the resulting stigma that plagues the very fabric of our communities, the evolution of safe consumption sites in the United States, and the proliferation of any and all harm reduction based on compassionate, evidence-based solutions.

Mary has enjoyed volunteerism as President of the New Orleans Children’s Hospital Guild and in various neighborhood and civic organizations, at the Harm Reduction headquarters in New York City, is a member of the local New York City Chapter of GRASP and assisting in the formation of a Los Angeles Chapter, has been a guest speaker at and travels to conferences and coalition meetings where like-minded individuals convene to strive for a better world for those afflicted with the disease of drug addiction.