Denver-area veterans given free marijuana at unusual event

DENVER - An event targeted at veterans handed out free marijuana to hundreds of people on Saturday, including edibles and medicinal versions of the plant, all in an effort organizers say was designed to help vets in need.

The Denver Cannibis Giveaway, gave out pot to the veterans and to the general public, who can now legally possess it in Colorado, as a different approach to treating veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder, reports CBS Denver.

"That's our mission, is to offer veterans a safe alternative to the dangerous prescription drugs that they're prescribed to deal with PTSD, TBI, chronic pain, and all sorts of other ailments," said Roger Martin, Operation Grow4Vets Executive Director.

But others objected to the distribution of marijuana publicly to veterans in this fashion.

"These people are getting marijuana with varying degrees of potency and THC. That could cause things like paranoia," said Bob Doyle of the Colorado Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Coalition. "Obviously things that we wouldn't want somebody with PTSD to be experiencing."

Still, the vets who attended the event say marijuana is useful to them as medical treatment because they make more sense than harsher alternatives."I'm allergic to morphine opiates, I can't take them," said Mark Pitt, a Vietnam veteran. "So I don't have much choice other than do that."