Back in 1991, Darren White was the lead singer of the hottest DARE cop band in Albuquerque. Today, White lobbies on behalf of a medical marijuana business he helps direct. It’s part of a pattern of law enforcement across the nation speaking out against the drug war they once fought.

White held several public offices, including a stint as sheriff in the state’s most populous county, then as Governor Gary Johnson’s Secretary of the Department of Public Safety.

In 1999, White even quit in protest of Johnson’s views on marijuana legalization. After returning to his role as Sheriff, White specifically spoke out against the state’s medical marijuana legislation in 2007 telling the Albuquerque Tribune,

“I’ve never supported medical marijuana. I’m very sympathetic to the patients. I watched my father die of cancer, and it’s the most difficult thing in the world, but I don’t think you have to smoke marijuana to gain the comfort and relief that’s provided by the THC.”

But the times are a changing. White had a conversion, and is now on a whirlwind media tour of New Mexico, telling KRQE, “I had reasons for why I believed what I did, I’m not ashamed to sit here and tell you I was wrong.”

Personal experience with chronic pain opened his eyes, he said.

“I have had my leg reconstructed, I have had back surgery and I know firsthand the struggle that patients face dealing with chronic pain. Consuming a steady diet of painkillers doesn’t equal a quality of life. I know that medical cannabis works and it’s also the reason why I’m a cardholder.”

The DARE program is also changing with the times. Following Washington’s lead, the national anti-some-drugs program recently removed marijuana from their list of gateway drugs.

White remains opposed to the legal adult use of cannabis.

Here’s pot lobbyist Darren White in a DARE video from 1990.