Secretary: NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals
Thurston S. Smith, CCS, NCAC I


Thurston S. Smith, CCS, NCAC I, is a nationally recognized behavioral health consultant and trainer and is a program manager for the Veterans Health Administration’s Substance Abuse Treatment Center in Memphis, Tenn. He holds national credentials specializing in clinical supervision and substance abuse counseling and has served as a consultant for both public and private sector establishments. Among other accomplishments, Smith has published a course on compulsive gambling that is sponsored by the Florida School of Addictions Studies and the Florida Association of D.U.I. Programs, where he has served as faculty, and by NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals.

Smith has served on the Executive Board of Directors for NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, located in Alexandria, Va., as their Past Southeast Regional Vice President and was recently elected to serve a two-year term on the association's Executive Committee. He has also served as instructional staff for the Alabama School for Alcohol and Other Drug Studies, the Southeastern School of Alcohol and Other Drug Studies, the South Carolina School of Alcohol and Other Drug Studies, the SC Annual HIV/STD Conference, the National Conference on Addictions Treatment, the Carolina’s Conference on Addiction and Recovery, the United States District Court of Probation and Parole Conference, federal bureau of prisons, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Drug Diversion Summit, the U.S. Court (Western District) and a host of other conferences and training initiatives.

In his role as Chairman of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Committee, Smith served as Delegate to Colombia, South America, in an initiative sponsored by Partners of the Americas (A People to People non-governmental organization whose focus is to provide leadership, resources and technical assistance to Southwest Colombia, South America) and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs - U.S. Department of State and while there, received an honorary citation in psychology from University De Valle of Buga, Colombia. In addition, Smith received a four-year SC Governor's appointment to the Charleston/Dorchester Mental Health Board and has fulfilled a previous S.C. Governor’s appointment as Chair, Charleston County Foster Care Review Board. He is an Administrative and Program Surveyor for CARF International, in Tucson, Arizona, and has served as a field reviewer and technical consultant for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA-CSAT), a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

He has previously fulfilled a two-year appointment on the Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee (EEO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and is a 1998 graduate of Leadership Beaufort, a civic program of the Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce. He is the former Director of Client and Prevention Services for The ACCESS Network, an HIV community-based organization located in Beaufort, S.C., and is a former member of Beaufort County Council's Joint Planning Board. His energetic style and extensive background in community service and programmatic issues have afforded him the opportunity to utilize his skills in both public and private sectors. Smith received the Key to the City by the late, Honorable Larry Abernathy of Clemson, South Carolina.

He has also been actively involved in addictions research, education and public policy and has served on the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Research Study, the University of Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions, as panelist on the Howard University’s Center for Drug Research Lonnie E. Mitchell HBCU Substance Abuse Conference, on Clemson University’s Nancy Moore Thurmond Policy Initiative on Substance Abuse and Addictions, and was a former panel member of the Washington University’s Research Institute on Addictions.
                                                               
He is a member of the NAADAC Speakers Bureau, and is the recipient of several awards and commendations, among them: the NAADAC "One to One" Membership Campaign - 1996, the 1997 South Carolina Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors - Counselor of the Year, and the National Hospital Week Campaign – 1998, and the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN-7) Counselor of the Year - 2004. In addition, Thurston was recognized for organizing the First Annual Legislative Luncheon on Foster Care for the South Carolina Governor's Office - Office of Executive Programs and Policies, and in 2002, provided oral testimony before the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus Political Education and Leadership Institute.

Smith’s most notable accomplishments are his citations in Marquis Who’s Who in America, his receipt of the Southeast Addiction Technology Transfer Center’s – Morehouse School of Medicine’s 2003 Service Award, his recognition as the NAADAC Lora Roe Memorial National Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselor of the Year – 2003, his receipt of the NAADAC 2004 Executive Committee Service Award, and receipt of the Florida/NAADAC 2005 Service Award. He is also the recipient of the VISN-7 Leadership Award, graduate of the 2005 VISN-7  Leadership Program, and was selected to serve on the prestigious Veterans Health Administration’s Carey Award Board of Examiners in Washington, D.C. In 2010 he provided technical assistance and healthcare consultation to the provincial government of Cape Town, South Africa. He was a former candidate for Charleston City Council and 2007 delegation candidate for Presidential Candidate Barack Obama in Alabama’s U.S. Congressional District 7. His continuous works have afforded him an opportunity to serve regularly on the Rosalyn Carter Annual Symposium on Mental Health Policy Workgroup, at the Carter Presidential Library, Atlanta, Ga., for over eight years. Smith was recently accepted into the 2013 Executive Class of Leadership Memphis.