Drug Policy Alliance Drops Valentine Strategies in Fourth Quarter LDA Termination
The lobbying disclosure termination ends a relationship worth $162,000 — and leaves the drug reform nonprofit without a registered federal lobbying firm
Drug Policy Alliance ended its lobbying relationship with Valentine Strategies in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to an LDA termination filing dated December 9, 2025. The final quarter carried a disclosed amount of $24,000, consistent with the quarterly rate Drug Policy Alliance had been paying throughout 2025.
The termination closes out a lobbying engagement that began no later than the fourth quarter of 2024 and produced $162,000 in total disclosed spending across five quarterly filings. Based on available lobbying disclosures, Drug Policy Alliance has not hired a replacement firm to continue the work.
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Why It Matters
Drug Policy Alliance Lobbying Spend Was Modest but Steady
The Drug Policy Alliance Valentine Strategies relationship generated $162,000 in disclosed lobbying revenue. The fourth quarter 2024 filing was the largest at $90,000, while each subsequent quarter in 2025 — first, second, and third — came in at $24,000.
Drug Policy Alliance was the only client generating lobbying disclosures through Valentine Strategies in the available data. The Valentine Strategies lobbying disclosure filings for this client all categorized the work under agriculture policy issues — a classification that, given Drug Policy Alliance's mission, likely relates to cannabis and hemp policy within the agriculture committee jurisdiction.
No Replacement Firm on File
A review of Drug Policy Alliance's lobbying activity over the past year shows Valentine Strategies as the sole registered lobbying firm. No other firm has filed an LDA lobbying registration on behalf of Drug Policy Alliance during this period. That means the organization — a $12 million-per-year nonprofit that advocates for ending the drug war and shifting to a public health framework — currently has no outside federal lobbying representation on the books.
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Broader Context
A Hostile Federal Landscape for Drug Policy Reform
Drug Policy Alliance operates in a federal policy environment that has grown considerably more difficult for its priorities. A Republican-controlled Congress and the Trump administration have emphasized enforcement-oriented drug policy, creating headwinds for the harm-reduction and decriminalization agenda Drug Policy Alliance champions.
Every bill that appeared in Drug Policy Alliance's lobbying disclosures from the 118th Congress remains stalled at the "introduced" stage. None advanced beyond initial introduction. Those bills spanned the organization's core issues:
- Cannabis descheduling: HR 5601 and S 4226, which would decriminalize and deschedule cannabis while providing expungement of certain offenses
- Fentanyl scheduling: HR 467, S 1141, and S 1950, addressing fentanyl-related substance scheduling under the Controlled Substances Act
- Xylazine restrictions: HR 1839 and S 993
- SNAP benefits restoration: HR 3479, which would allow individuals with drug offenses to receive SNAP benefits
- Opioid treatment reauthorization: HR 4531
In the current 119th Congress, the MORE Act of 2025 — a marijuana descheduling bill — was reintroduced but has not advanced. The bill previously passed the House in 2020 and 2022 but never cleared the Senate.
The Farm Bill and Hemp Remain Live Wires
The agriculture policy classification on the Valentine Strategies filings points toward the Farm Bill reauthorization and hemp provisions as a focus of the lobbying work. The 2024 Farm Bill failed to pass and continues to operate under extensions. The so-called "hemp THC loophole" — whether hemp-derived cannabinoid products should remain legal — is actively contested.
A rider in the fiscal year 2026 Agriculture appropriations bill would close that loophole. However, Sen. Rand Paul objected, and the hemp language was stripped from the Senate version of the funding bill. The issue remains unresolved.
No Congressional Heat Directed at the Client
A search of congressional hearings and member communications over the past year turned up no mentions of Drug Policy Alliance. There is no evidence in the available data that direct congressional scrutiny of the organization played a role in the lobbying disclosure termination.
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The Firm's Profile Raises Questions About Fit
Valentine Strategies is a Sacramento-based firm founded by Kiana Valentine, whose background spans more than 15 years in California state and local government, including work at the California State Association of Counties. The firm's stated areas of focus include transportation, infrastructure, housing, land use, and local government.
Federal drug policy reform and navigating a Republican-controlled Congress do not appear among the firm's listed competencies. The lobbying disclosure filings for the Drug Policy Alliance engagement also contained no named lobbyists, making it impossible to assess whether individual practitioners brought relevant congressional relationships or committee expertise to the work.
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Bottom Line
Drug Policy Alliance spent $162,000 on federal lobbying through Valentine Strategies from the fourth quarter of 2024 through the fourth quarter of 2025. None of the bills the organization lobbied on became law. The LDA termination leaves Drug Policy Alliance without a registered outside lobbying firm at a time when cannabis and hemp policy remain actively contested in both the Farm Bill reauthorization and appropriations processes — but when the broader federal environment has turned against the organization's reform agenda.
No replacement firm has filed a lobbying registration on behalf of Drug Policy Alliance.
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