While the American public visits famous Washington D.C. monuments this Veterans Day, military veterans with The Weed for Warriors Project (WFW) will be dumping thousands of pill bottles in front of the White House to make a statement about veteran suicide.
WFW is a veteran-founded advocacy group working to lower the veteran suicide rate through alternative, nontoxic medications–namely medical marijuana. Since Oct. 17, WFW has been hosting a series of 5k fundraisers across the country in its second annual Cannaball Run. The last stop is Washington D.C., where the event will end to the rattling chorus of empty pain medication bottles pouring onto the sidewalk.
“We want to make a political statement,” WFW founder and Marine veteran Kevin Richardson said. “It’s going to represent over-medication of our veterans.”
A huge part of the WFW mission is to provide alternative medications that won’t evolve into substance abuse and addiction. Richardson suffered from a pill addiction when he was trying to treat his PTSD and find relief for his service-related disabilities. Marijuana helped Richardson break free of his addiction and find new purpose.
“Veterans are being prescribed harsh pharmaceutical drugs that are extremely addictive and have been linked to thousands of veteran suicides,” the WFW website reads. “Cannabis has been proven to help with PTSD, cancer, chronic pain, sleep disorders, Crohn’s disease, migraines, addiction withdrawal and has statistically lowered the suicide rate in states where it is legal.”