Meet Dave

Dave Marlon founded and built one of the most successful addiction recovery centers in the country in the heart of Southern Nevada. The 35-year Las Vegas resident, after successfully addressing his own struggles with substance abuse, realized that he was uniquely suited to help others confronting addiction.

Dave has been consistently recognized by his peers as a leader in his field. He is the Southwest Regional Vice President of the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Counselors and received the 2018 National Advocacy Award from NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals. Locally, he has been recognized as a graduate of the Leadership Las Vegas program, with the Mayor’s Commendation, and received the Community Counseling Center of Southern Nevada’s Vanguard Award. He has served on the Governor’s Substance Abuse Working Group. Dave’s work in the recovery sector earned him the Inspired Excellence Award from Las Vegas HEALS.

Dave founded The CARE Coalition, The Solutions Foundation and Vegas Stronger, which combat substance abuse in Southern Nevada and help raise awareness about addictive behavior and its consequences. Dave has served on the boards of HELP of Southern Nevada and the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, He has also helped establish Mission High School, the first public recovery high school in the nation. Dave was featured in the most recent season of A&E’s Emmy award winning show Intervention.

Altogether, Dave has more than 35 years of health care experience in both recovery and insurance. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the State University of New York and holds a Master’s in Business Administration and Master’s in Counseling from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and earned a doctoral degree in Psychology from Walden University.

Campaign Update

Despite deciding to run just 90 days before the election, in a field of 10, Dave missed a run off by 132 votes. The two candidates ahead were city employee insiders who each went negative, and each had been running for over a year before Dave joined. Dave did not go negative despite the lies produced by other candidates in mailers.

With this strong showing Dave pivoted and focused his efforts on Vegas Stronger, a nonprofit to help effectuate social change in Las Vegas. Not as a councilperson but as a behavioral healthcare leader.