Professor Alex Kreit is director of the Chase Center on Addiction Law and Policy and a leading expert in the field of illegal drug and cannabis law. He is author of the casebooks Criminal Law in Focus (Aspen, 2021) and Illegal Drug and Marijuana Law (Carolina Academic Press, 2019), and co-author of the casebook Marijuana Law and Policy (Carolina Academic Press, 2020, with Douglas A. Berman) and the annually updated reference book Drug Abuse and the Law Sourcebook (Thomson Reuters, with Gerald F. Uelmen). He has written more than twenty law review articles and essays, published in journals including the Arizona State Law Journal, the Boston University Law Review, and the Ohio State Law Journal.
Professor Kreit is frequently quoted in the media on drug policy and marijuana law issues, having appeared in news outlets including CNN Headline News, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, NPR, Wall Street Journal and WIRED. In 2019, the National Law Journal selected him for its list of Trailblazers in Cannabis Law.
Before entering academia, Professor Kreit clerked for Judge M. Blane Michael of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, at Richmond, Virginia, and worked as an associate at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco. He then joined the faculty of Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. He has taught in law school study-abroad programs in Hangzhou, China, and Nice, France, and as a visiting faculty member at Boston College Law School and the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, in affiliation with the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center. He joined the Chase faculty in 2020. He continues to practice law as a member of the Appellate Defenders Inc. panel, representing indigent defendants in California state criminal appeals by court appointment.
Professor Kreit is actively involved in the community. He is a volunteer coach for his son’s youth soccer team, and served as a member of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear’s Kentucky Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee in 2022. While living in San Diego, he was a member of the City of San Diego Ethics Commission and chair of the City of San Diego Medical Marijuana Task Force.
Professor Kreit holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College.
Criminal Law in Focus (Wolters Kluwer, 2021)
Marijuana Law and Policy (Carolina Academic Press, 2020) (with Douglas A. Berman)
Illegal Drug and Marijuana Law (Carolina Academic Press 2d ed. 2019; 1st ed. 2013 as Controlled Substances: Crime, Regulation and Policy)
Drug Abuse and the Law Sourcebook (Thomson Reuters 2013, updated annually) (with Gerald F. Uelmen)
Federal Marijuana Reform and the Controlled Substances Act, 101 B.U. L. Rev. 1231 (2021)
Ensuring Marijuana Reform Is Effective Criminal Justice Reform, 52 Ariz. St. L.J. 741 (2020) (with Douglas A. Berman)
The Opioid Crisis and the Drug War at a Crossroads, 80 Ohio St. L.J. 887 (2019)
Safe Injection Sites and the Federal “Crack House” Statute, 60 B.C. L. Rev. 413 (2019)
Drug-Induced Homicide: Challenges and Strategies in Criminal Defense, 70 S.C. L. Rev. 707 (2019) (with Valena E. Beety, Anne Boustead, Jeremiah Goulka, & Leo Beletsky)
Marijuana Legalization and Nosy Neighbor States, 58 B.C. L. REV. 1059 (2017)
Marijuana Legalization, 1 Reforming Criminal Justice 115 (Erik Luna ed., 2017)
Drug Truce, 77 Ohio St. L. J. 1323 (2016)
Marijuana Legalization and Pretextual Stops, 50 UC Davis L. Rev. 741 (2016)
What Will Federal Marijuana Reform Look Like?, 65 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 689 (2015)
The 2015 Federal Budget’s Medical Marijuana Provision: An ‘End to the Federal Ban
on Marijuana’ or Something Less Than That?, 35 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 537 (2015)
The Federal Response to State Marijuana Legalization: Room for Compromise?, 91 Or. L. Rev. 1029 (2013)
Controlled Substances, Uncontrolled Law, 6 Albany Gov’t L. Rev. 101 (2013)
Reflections on Medical Marijuana Prosecutions and the Ethical Duty to Seek Justice, 89 Denver U. L. Rev. 1027 (2012)
Spring Symposium: Practical, Legal, and Ethical Perspectives on Medical Marijuana, 16 Mich. St. J. Med. & Law 540 (2012) (transcription of keynote address)
The Decriminalization Option: Should States Consider Moving from a Criminal to a
Civil Drug Court Model?, 2010 U. Chi. Legal F. 299
Making Sense of Facial and As-Applied Challenges, 18 Wm. & Mary Bill OF Rts. J. 657 (2010)
Beyond the Prohibition Debate: Thoughts on Federal Drug Laws in an Age of State Reforms, 13 Chapman L. Rev. 555 (2010)
Toward a Public Health Approach to Drug Policy, 3 Advance: The Journal of the American Constitution Society Issue Groups 43 (2009)
Vicarious Criminal Liability and the Constitutional Dimensions of Pinkerton, 57 Am. U. L. Rev. 585 (2008)
Rights, Rules and Raich, 108 W. Va. L. Rev. 705 (2006)
Raich, Health Care, and the Commerce Clause, 31 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 957 (2005) (with Aaron Marcus)
Why is Congress Still Regulating Noncommercial Activity?, 28 Harv. J. L. & Pub. Pol’y 169 (2004)
The Future of Medical Marijuana: Should the States Grow Their Own?, 151 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1787 (2003) (student note)
Recurring panelist on the Marijuana Today podcast, a weekly podcast about the business, law, and politics of marijuana, 2014-present
San Diego Must Prep For New Marijuana Era, San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 28, 2016
Understanding California’s Medical Marijuana Laws, 14 CRIMINAL L.J. 7 (2014) (State Bar of California publication)
Federal Drug Policy Should Focus on Big Cases, The New York Times, Jan. 14, 2014
Marijuana Legalization in 2014: An Overview, JURIST–Forum, Nov. 26, 2013
Crisis in the Courts, San Diego Union-Tribune, April 4, 2012 (with former California State
Assemblyperson Howard Wayne)
Prop. 5 is No Boon to Violent Offenders, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 24, 2008
National Law Journal Trailblazer in Cannabis Law (2019)
Hayek Fund for Scholars Grant (2019)
Institute for Humane Studies Faculty Partnership Grant (2015)
San Diego Daily Transcript Top Attorneys in Academics (2009, 2011, 2012)
San Diego News Network 35 Under 35 Community Leaders (2010)
