WHITE PLAINS – While most police chiefs around the Hudson Valley and state oppose the legalization of marijuana, one chief is lobbying for it.
Chatham Chief Peter Volkmann participated in Tuesday night’s panel discussion at Pace University in White Plains where supporters of making recreational pot legal discussed their reasons for backing it.
Volkmann said the drug, in an uncontrolled form, is being used now and he equated it to Prohibition when production and sale of alcoholic beverages were illegal from 1920 to 1933.
“Everyone still used it in their basement. Everyone still used it on clubs, on gangs were fighting each other,” he said. “Police were in an unending battle and what happened was they finally realized and rescinded Prohibition, but they kept certain drugs like marijuana on it. So we’ve been in prohibition for marijuana and we have been having a war on drugs for decades and it’s not going very well.”
Volkmann would only support legalization providing there are restrictions in age, amount and how potent it is.
Others speaking in favor of legalization were a school board member, a representative of WomenGrow, a lawyer and an addiction treatment professional.
