A Kansas dad who has been on hunger strike for 17 days to protest the placing of his kids in foster care could end his fast Wednesday if a federal lawsuit is filed on his behalf. 
 
 Raymond Schwab, a Gulf War veteran who claims the state took his children because he uses medical marijuana to treat his constant pain and PTSD, told NBC affiliate KSN "the hunger strike will be officially over" if "I agree with what's happening." 
 
 In anticipation of the legal move, Schwab treated himself to a protein shake and coconut water, the station reported. 
 
 Schwab and his wife, Amelia, lost custody of five of their six children last April as they were preparing to move from Kansas to Colorado, where medical marijuana is legal. 
 
 The Kansas Department for Children and Families removed the kids from their home when it began investigating allegations the children were being emotionally abused, according to reports. 
 
 Three months later, the agency concluded the claims were unsubstantiated, the reports stated. But they didn't return the kids. 
 
 That's when Schwab, 40, stopped eating, grabbed some sleeping bags, and began camping out on the Statehouse steps in Topeka to get his kids back. 
 
 Meanwhile, medical marijuana advocates in support of Schwab offered to sue the state on his behalf. 
 
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 DCF spokeswoman Theresa Freed declined to comment specifically about the Schwab case but said marijuana use is generally not reason enough for the state to keep children in foster care. 
 
 Freed told KSN, an "unsubstantiated" finding doesn't necessarily mean abuse wasn't found. 
 
 "It's very confusing and we understand that," Freed said. "We hear that from the courts, we hear that from a number of individuals within the community and we want to help clarify the process." 
 
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 The Schwabs say they've only seen their children three times since last April. 
 
 "Until people stand up and say this needs reform, this needs stopped, we may not get our kids back," Schwab told the station earlier this year. "They're threatening to terminate our rights." ||||| With a lawsuit written by a Los Angeles-based lawyer ready to be filed at U.S. District Court in Topeka, Raymond Schwab was finally ready Wednesday afternoon to end a 17-day hunger strike. 
 
 As he stood at 12:15 p.m. on the steps of the Statehouse, a beaming Schwab proclaimed, “Now I can eat! Maybe we can figure out how to get a barbecue up here.” 
 
 A few minutes earlier, Schwab spoke at a news conference attended by about 35 supporters to provide an update on his appeal to regain custody of five of his six children, who in 2015 were removed from his custody by the Kansas Department for Children and Families. 
 
 In what has become a public battle against DCF, Schwab, a military veteran, contends his children were removed by authorities and placed in foster care because of his use of medical marijuana to treat chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. He and his wife, Amelia, live in Colorado, where his marijuana use is legal. 
 
 As he and his wife prepared to move to Colorado from Topeka in 2015, Schwab said, the state removed five of their six children. Their eldest child is over age 18 and considered an adult. 
 
 DCF officials have countered that Schwab is only telling part of the story, but the state agency can’t divulge details because of confidentiality rules. 
 
 Supporters at Wednesday’s news conference were vocal in their belief that Schwab is a victim, saying the case centers on use of medical marijuana. Many took selfies with Schwab, while others gave him hugs. 
 
 Schwab, 40, said Wednesday that after lunching with supporters, he would return to his makeshift shelter at the top of the Statehouse’s north steps. 
 
 Schwab said he has a permit to remain at the Statehouse until April 23 but hopes the lawsuit filed by Matthew Pappas, the attorney who was to file papers on his behalf, would lead to an injunction against the state and bring the return of his children. 
 
 As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, DCF hadn’t been served with the lawsuit, said spokeswoman Theresa Freed. 
 
 Freed said DCF is expediting review of a “fairly thick file” on the Schwabs’ case. Earlier this month, Schwab signed power of attorney to former gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Winn to allow DCF to release information to her. Freed said determinations on what identifying information to release are in progress, and reports from law enforcement and attorneys must be reviewed to assess whether information from other agencies or offices may be released. 
 
 Schwab earlier had said he would continue his hunger strike until either his children were returned; a “higher authority,” such as the federal government, intervened; or someone filed a federal lawsuit on his behalf. 
 
 Pappas took a red-eye flight to Kansas City, Mo., then drove straight to Topeka to meet with Schwab, who on Tuesday began transitioning to a liquid nutrient diet. 
 
 Pappas, a civil rights lawyer, said there were cases in which state officials need to remove children from their homes. However, he said, in Schwab’s case, the use of marijuana for medical purposes posed no threat to his children. 
 
 Cheryl Shuman, chief executive officer and president of the Beverly Hills Cannabis Club, arrived Tuesday night in Topeka to go to bat for Schwab. View an interview with Shuman at http://bit.ly/1VUbe6T. 
 
 She said Schwab reached out to her via Twitter this past weekend. They discussed Schwab’s situation, and Shuman said she believed his case warranted her coming to Topeka. Shuman said she contacted Pappas, with whom she has worked on previous cannabis-related issues, and he also decided to come to Topeka. 
 
 Shuman said her “team from L.A. works on these cases on a daily basis throughout the country.” 
 
 Shuman said she hopes to focus national media attention on Schwab, using his case as an example that could be used by federal courts to open up cannabis laws across the nation. She said she has been in touch with network TV programs with which she has previously worked, including “Dr. Phil,” “The View” and “Good Morning America,” in hopes one or more will decide to highlight Schwab’s story. 
 
 A “Fools No More” rally in support of Schwab and relaxing cannabis laws in Kansas will be held at 11 a.m. Friday on the Statehouse’s south steps. ||||| Related Coverage Veteran claims state took kids from him over use of medical marijuana 
 
 TOPEKA, Kansas (KSNT) – A father is trying to answer one, multi-faceted question. 
 
 “What is going on,” Raymond Schwab wondered on his 14th day of a hunger strike. 
 
 Schwab, as of Tuesday night, had not ingested any solid food since March 14. The hunger strike camp, set up on the north steps of the Statehouse, is an effort to bring awareness to an injustice Schwab said his family is going through at the hands of the Department for Children and Families. 
 
 But, late Tuesday afternoon, Schwab said his hunger strike would end if he is happy with a federal lawsuit expected to be filed on Wednesday. 
 
 “If I agree with what’s happening (Wednesday), after the press release, the hunger strike will be officially over,” Schwab said. In anticipation of the end, Schwab said he did drink a protein shake and some coconut water. 
 
 Last April, he said his children were taken away while he and his wife, Amelia, were packing to move the family to Colorado. Documents from DCF show the claims of emotional abuse were unsubstantiated. 
 
 “The first thing to point out is a lot of people assume that when we say that the case is unsubstantiated it means abuse didn’t occur and that is not the case,” Theresa Freed said about the investigation result categories DCF uses. Freed, the public relations director for the department, did not comment specifically about the findings in the Schwab case. 
 
 She said the investigation findings determine if a person should be put on a list that would prohibit them from working in a licensed child care facility. It does not mean the children will automatically be returned home. 
 
 “It’s very confusing and we understand that,” Freed said about the investigation process. “We hear that from the courts, we hear that from a number of individuals within the community and we want to help clarify the process.” According to Freed, DCF will present a new, three-tiered investigation process this summer. 
 
 The Schwabs say their family is being also being subjected to this procedure because of their use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Marijuana is illegal in Kansas but not in Colorado, where the family was moving. 
 
 In November of last year, DCF paperwork indicates that less than 10 percent of the cases involved parental drug abuse as the reason children were removed from their homes. 
 
 Freed said marijuana use alone is not a reason for children to be put into state custody. The drug use is often coupled with other allegations. 
 
 Of the cases in November, the highest number of cases, 18 percent, involved physical neglect. DCF says in 14 percent of the cases, children were moved after allegations of physical abuse. 
 
 Last Thursday, Schwab was arrested on the steps of the Statehouse after an anonymous tip about a warrant out in his name. That warrant stemmed from a 2015 incident. 
 
 He was released from the Shawnee County Jail the following day. He resumed sitting on the steps on Sunday, this time covered with a make shift tent. On Monday, Brownback administrators told Schwab he is not allowed to have tents. As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, he was using a lawn chair, sleeping bags and a giant umbrella to fend against the elements during his hunger strike. 
 
 The press conference announcing the lawsuit is expected to start at 11 a.m. on the south steps of the Statehouse.
– Raymond Schwab, a Gulf War veteran and father of six, has ended his 17-day hunger strike on the steps of the Kansas Statehouse now that an LA-based attorney is filing a lawsuit on his behalf. Schwab, who says he uses medical marijuana to manage chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, lost custody of five of his six children last April, when the state placed them in foster care under allegations of emotional abuse, reports the Topeka Capital-Journal. (His other child is an adult and can thus remain in the home.) "Now I can eat!" exclaimed Schwab in front of 35 supporters on Wednesday, adding that he hopes the lawsuit will result in an injunction against the state and ultimately return his children to his custody. The Kansas Department for Children and Families said Wednesday that the lawsuit had not yet been filed, and it notes it's expediting the review of a "fairly thick file" on the case; Schwab says he lost custody because of his pot use, but the DCF says it can't disclose details. While documents from the department do show that claims of emotional abuse were unsubstantiated, its public relations director tells KSN that this doesn't mean abuse didn't occur, and it also doesn't mean that the children will be automatically returned. NBC News reports that Schwab and his wife, who were in the process of moving to Colorado (where medical marijuana is legal) when their children were removed from their home, have only seen their children three times since April. (A student held a hunger strike last year in neighboring Missouri.)