A former Colorado police officer is giving his take on the state's recreational marijuana legalization at an open panel Tuesday night.

The event, which is hosted by Butler County's Drug and Alcohol program, will feature a keynote speech from the retired officer, Dale Quigley, and a question-and-answer panel.

Quigley is a deputy coordinator for the National Marijuana Initiative for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Program. The program is funded by the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Quigley has criticized the motives behind legalizing recreational marijuana, according to various news reports on other presentations he's given.

During the panel, he'll be joined by District Attorney Richard Goldinger; Mark Fuller, CEO of Value Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania; and Jason Beckwith, founder of Action in Recovery.

Beth Ehrenfried-Neveux, the county's drug and alcohol supervisor, said they're hoping the crowd can leave with an understanding of how recreational marijuana has worked out in Colorado.

“This isn't meant to be a debate,” she said. “We know it's a controversial subject, but we're just hoping to educate.”

The crowd will write questions to be given to the panel, but won't be directly presenting questions from the crowd.

Ehrenfried-Neveux said she hopes such discussions can help Pennsylvania communities put policies in place to be prepared for recreational marijuana if it were to become legal in the state.

She noted that they're talking about recreational use of the plant and not medicinal.

The event is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday in Succop Theater at Butler County Community College. Doors open at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

The same event will be hosted at New Castle High School at the same time the following day for those who are interested but unable to attend Tuesday.