The wounded Army infantry captain would have a surgery every few months, broken up by unsuccessful physical therapy.
The opioid crisis, which killed more than 42,000 Americans in 2016, continues to devastate the country.
Doctors prescribe opioids for chronic pain, an ailment that is especially prevalent among military veterans.
A 2011 Veterans Affairs study found that veterans were twice as likely to die from an opioid overdose compared to the rest of the population.
The devastating toll opioids have taken on veterans has the VA scrambling to find alternative solutions.
The VA enacted the Opioid Safety Initiative in 2013 and cut the number of veterans on opioids by almost a third.
But activists like Nick Etten, a former Navy SEAL and the founder and director of the Veterans Cannabis Project, believe medical marijuana can help. »