420 Body Bags Bring Serious Message to the Holiday

420 is everyone’s favorite stoner celebration—and CULTURE has reported extensively on all the fun things that went down this year in honor of the holiday. However, even though the streets of Denver were crowded with music, food and smoke this 420, some used the occasion to spread a more serious message.

This year, IllegallyAlive.org made a dark and ominous artistic statement when they drove around Denver with a monster truck containing 53 body bags. The stunning image had an important message—the body bags represented the number of Americans who overdose on prescription drugs every day. Illegally Alive’s simple tagline, “Opioids kill, cannabis doesn’t,” along with their extreme form of delivery, make it clear that they stand firmly against the heavy use of prescription drugs in this country.

The truck drove around all day on April 16 through April 20, from 3pm-7pm, in all the major neighborhoods of downtown Denver. On the truck, along with the body bags, Illegally Alive displayed a neon sign that shares information about prescription use versus cannabis use.

According to Illegally Alive, “Between 1999 and 2014, more than 165,000 Americans died from overdoses related to legally prescribed opioids. Every day, 53 people lose their lives from prescription pain medication-related overdose. There have been zero overdose deaths from cannabis, ever. Cannabis and opioids can both be used to treat pain. States with medical cannabis laws have a 24.8 percent lower mean annual opioid overdose mortality rate compared with states without medical cannabis laws.”

“Illegally Alive is designed to unite and educate others on the lethal effects of legal opioids and how cannabis, which is still illegal medically in half the country, is a non-lethal alternative,” Matthew Mills, the CEO of Med-X, the company behind Illegally Alive, told CULTURE. “We hope to draw additional attention and enact action by displaying this issue in a visually disturbing way. While highly addictive opioids are being prescribed legally at an unprecedented rate, those who choose to medicate with non-lethal cannabis risk potential legal ramifications.”