Ms. Bell joined the staff of MPP in December 2015 and is working toward reform in D.C., Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wyoming. Prior to joining MPP, she worked as a criminal defense attorney based in Baltimore, Maryland, where she witnessed first-hand how the racially disparate enforcement of prohibition warps the relationships between police and the communities they serve. In her practice, she regularly represented medical marijuana patients under the affirmative defense law, while also advocating for a broader law that would protect patients from prosecution.Ms. Bell graduated magna cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law. She has traveled extensively and is now a proud resident of the (future) 51st state