A nonprofit organization in Colorado has taken an unusual approach to holiday spirit by handing out thousands of free pre-rolled joints to homeless people, according to The Washington Times.
Cannabis Can, a volunteer-run Denver-based group, gave away free marijuana to homeless people and "anybody and everybody we meet on the streets" in order to raise awareness of homelessness in an event it dubbed "Cannamas 2015."
In sweatshirts reading "I helped 1,000 people get high for Cannamas," volunteers passed out the joints while also spreading word of its crowd-funding campaign nicknamed "Restrooms and Grooms," which aims to provide accessible bathrooms, showers and haircuts to homeless people in Denver, according to The New York Post.
"A lot of the people we spoke with really were just like, 'If I had regular access to a shower and a haircut my life would be so much better,'" founder of the organization Nick Dicenzo told ABC7 News. "'Cannabis can make a difference' is kind of what we're standing for."
Cannabis Can also aims to provide homeless people with accessible personal document retrieval and easily retrievable backups of important information such as identification and employment history, according to the statement on its site.
The organization also emphasizes the fact that its approach to homelessness is "regardless of circumstance without judgment", stating that they believe "working together towards a solution [will] allow our society to be more inclusive and cohesive as a whole."
While recreational marijuana use is legal in Colorado, it is illegal to smoke in public or to carry more than an ounce at any given time. Giving away the drug as a gift is legal providing that the recipient is over the age of 21.
Dicenzo noted that these limitations made "the logistics of this really tricky" and acknowledged that members of his organization did carry more than an ounce on them, according to ABC7 News.
