Free marijuana joints were handed out to hundreds of military veterans in Denver during the Denver Cannabis Giveaway. Grow4Vets sponsored the Saturday event in an effort to put a spotlight on how marijuana can ease the pain and suffering of people.

The group is pushing for the use of marijuana over prescription drugs when it comes to treating anxiety, PTSD, pain as well as other medical and psychological issues. 

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More than 400 bags of marijuana-infused products were given away.

Roger Martin, founder of the Grow4Vets group, stated that his group's primary concern is to help veterans with their medical conditions, which may include post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic aches and pains as well as brain injuries. 

Martin is also a veteran so the cause is very much close to his heart.

Stephanie Burton, a veteran army nurse, also shared her struggles with PTSD which resulted in many sleepless nights. She stated that marijuana has helped her sleep at night.

On the other hand, 29-year old Afghanistan vet Brian Nance said he has used cannabis to wean himself off harder drugs such as morphine. Nance suffers from chronic back pain and used to take a morphine pill every 4-5 hours in order to ease his pain.

However, others criticized the group's initiative to make marijuana an alternative to pain medication, since the state has rejected propositions to prescribe marijuana instead of painkillers.

Colorado Smart Approaches to Marijuana Coalition's Bob Doyle said that although the drug can ease one's pains, it can also cause paranoia. Doyle condemned the event as reckless.

"Obviously things [such as paranoia are those] that we would not want somebody with PTSD to be experiencing," he stated. 

Marijuana can cause anxiety, poor coordination of movement, suppression of the immune system, growth, reduction of male sex hormones as well as sensory distortion.