HB 1349 is a bill that would decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms sponsored by Amherst Representative Tony Labranche. The bill had its first hearing in the Criminal Justice committee on January 11th, but while all the other bills heard that day got voted on, HB 1349 had a new hearing date scheduled. That means you have another chance to go and show your support for the bill on Thursday, January 20, 2022 in the Legislative Office Building in Concord at 9am. Alternatively, if you can’t make it you can email the committee and tell them to vote Ought To Pass.
The bill is very interesting because it is modeled word for word after the bill that decriminalized marijuana in New Hampshire. What argument does a member of this committee have against this bill? Psilocybin mushrooms are even safer for people and society than marijuana, according to Dr. David Nutt, former chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in the UK.
I spoke at the hearing on January 11th and so did 4 others. The only person who spoke against this bill was a police lieutenant. How typical. The only person who didn’t want to see Granite Staters gain more freedom was a person who personally profits from the war on drugs.
The New Hampshire Supreme Court already decided that psilocybin use was constitutionally protected if you’re using it for religious practice or to worship god. My spiritual beliefs include worshiping the god in myself by allowing myself the ability to ascend beyond what and who I am now. Psilocybin is a great tool to do that and more people experiencing this medicine would help heal our community which is in part damaged by the war on drugs.
Dried Psilocybin Mushrooms, photo from Northspore.com
Thanks to the efforts of activist group Decriminalize Nature, cities across the United States have decriminalized the possession of mushrooms containing psilocybin. From Oakland, CA to nearby Northampton, MA, city councils have voted unanimously to direct law enforcement to essentially ignore people who possess psychedelic mushrooms. Plus, the entire state of Oregon legalized shrooms via a ballot initiative in 2020.
Thus far, however, no state has yet decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms via the legislative process. Perhaps New Hampshire will be the first with HB 1349, a bill that proposes to make the possession of up to 12 grams of psilocybin mushrooms a mere violation with a $100 fine, instead of a felony.
It’s easy to be skeptical that such a change can happen here in New Hampshire, given the state was slow to decriminalize cannabis, but finally did in 2017. However, the tide is shifting on the issue of psilocybin mushrooms. The reason that city councils are voting unanimously to decriminalize shrooms is because they really do help a lot of people with serious mental problems like PTSD and depression. The studies on this are numerous and growing. It is hard for city councilors to deny retired military veterans who testify that psilocybin has cured them of PTSD, or people with terminal diseases who will testify that psilocybin has helped them be at ease with death. Plus, it has long been known that psilocybin mushrooms are safe to use, even compared with cannabis.
Drug Harm to Society and the User
As I pointed out in my testimony in front of the state house Criminal Justice committee on Wednesday, the most relevant thing they should consider is that the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled in December of 2020 that using psilocybin mushrooms for religious reasons is legal in New Hampshire. Jeremy Mack was arrested for possession of psilocybin mushrooms and convicted in Superior Court. He appealed, arguing it was his right, as a member of the Oklevueha Native American Church to use psilocybin as part of his religion.
In a UNANIMOUS decision, the NH supremes overturned Mack’s conviction, pointing out that the New Hampshire constitution has stronger religious freedom protections than the United States constitution. While the US constitution protects the right to religion, the NH constitution protects your right to worship God how you choose:
Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or for his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasion; provided he doth not disturb the public peace or disturb others in their religious worship. -Article 5, NH Constitution Bill of Rights
Given this amazing court decision, the religious use of psilocybin mushrooms is already fully legal in New Hampshire. Now the legislature should catch up and stop the police from even arresting psilocybin users at all, by passing HB 1349. I am optimistic for its chances. At the hearing on Wednesday, the only person who spoke against the bill was a drug warrior from the NH State Police, who trotted out the usual scare tactics of “DANGER” and “THE CHILDREN”. Though by pointing out that his kids told him shrooms are available for sale in their school, he inadvertently admits the abject failure of his precious War on Drugs.
In the most pleasantly surprising news of the year, the Keene Sentinel has broken a story about Keene Police lieutenant Jason Short advocating mass civil disobedience regarding the city’s recently passed mask mandate. Though the Sentinel piece appears to want to shock readers with Short’s opinions, those of us who have engaged with him over more than a decade of peaceful civil disobedience activism are proud to see his evolution.
The Sentinel reveals that Short posted the following to his facebook account:
“Remember the bad guys in movies don’t know they are bad, they think they are doing the ‘right thing’ for the benefit of society. It is only when the ‘good guy’ stands up to them that they realize they are wrong. Citizens need to stand up and stop simply complying to this nonsense mandates.”
The rest of the Sentinel piece is designed to gin up outrage that a police officer dared to openly speak against the city gang’s precious mask ordinance. However, surprisingly, Keene Police chief Steven Russo actually covered for Short rather than throwing him under the bus, explaining to the reporter that it’s Short’s right to express himself as Short doesn’t lose the right to free speech just because he works for the state. Russo claims, “Lt. Short will enforce the Ordinance consistent with my guidance and in the same spirit as all of our Officers regardless of his personal feelings”, but doesn’t say what his “guidance” is. There is a good chance Russo’s “guidance” is to encourage Keene police to use discretion regarding enforcing the ordinance.
Many people, including those railing against Short online for expressing independent thoughts, simply do not understand that all police officers have discretion. Discretion is the ability for each officer to decide whether to enforce any given statute or ordinance, with few exceptions. As I understand it, generally, police officers are only obligated to enforce certain violent felonies. So, even if Russo tells Short to enforce the mask mandate, Short can still use his discretion and the worst than can be done to him is he’d likely get a stern talking-to or perhaps reassigned to the night shift.
Keene Police Officer Jason Short, Civil Disobedience Advocate
City mob boss Elizabeth Dragon was even approached by Sentinel reporter Caleb Symons for comment on whether Short could be disciplined, but she wisely refused to return his calls, as she probably doesn’t want to admit there’s nothing the city council can do if the police refuse to enforce their ordinance. From what I understand, Short isn’t the only police officer who feels as he does.
A decade ago, Short was the antagonist during Derrick J Freeman’s “Victimless Crime Spree“, arresting Free Keene blogger Derrick J in Central Square for open possession of cannabis. In 2014, as the DEA was raiding then-Main Street business Phat Stuff, Keene police were running cover for them and I confronted Short outside the business about his role in the situation. During the conversation, I asked him how he feels about a productive downtown business being destroyed by the DEA, and he told me, “what I feel don’t matter”. I responded that it does matter, which is why I asked him for his opinion.
Now, more than half a decade later, Short appears to have changed his tune, and for the better. He’s not only expressing his opinion about bad law publicly, he’s also taking the correct position – that the mask mandate is evil and needs to be disobeyed. That’s because good people disobey bad laws and good cops refuse to enforce them.
If Jason Short can go from bad guy to good guy, maybe there is hope. Whether or not activists like Derrick J have had a positive influence on Short over the years, kudos to Short for taking a stand.
In September, Free Keene covered the filing of a first-ever constitutional amendment to declare peaceful independence from the United States federal government. Now, that bill has been officially assigned a bill number, CACR 32.
As reported today by the NH Exit blog, the next step is the bill will go before a state house committee for public hearing. In a historic first for all 50 states, people of New Hampshire will have a chance to speak to the state reps about secession – whether for or against.
If passed without amendment by 60% of the NH House and Senate, CACR 32 will appear on the ballot with the following wording:
Are you in favor of amending the first part of the constitution by inserting after article 7 a new article to read as follows:
[Art.] 7-a. [Independent Nation.] New Hampshire peaceably declares independence from the United States and immediately proceeds as a sovereign nation. All other references to the United States in this constitution, state statutes and regulations are nullified.
To pass, it must receive at least 2/3rds of the vote. Visit the NHexit.US post for the full story.
The successes of the freedom migration to New Hampshire keep piling up. So much that our statist opponents cannot ignore or laugh at us anymore. Their posts on social media are a constant stream of frustration at their failures to impose more tyranny on the Granite State. Recently, leftist group “Granite State Matters” posted, “FREE STATERS plotted to invade and take over NH two decades ago. Their plan is working.”, when announcing a podcast episode about it. This, not long after the Hillsborough Democrats gave a 90-minute infomercial about the amazing success of the Free State Project and the various organizations libertarians have started or engaged with here in New Hampshire. There are a lot more such caterwauling posts from the statists than I can put here. To see it all, I recommend following @FreeStateNH on Twitter.
Granite State Matters is right. The Free Staters’ plan is working. It’s actually been working for quite a while, but since COVID happened the migration has kicked into overdrive as libertarians, voluntarists, and liberty-loving anarchists have begun moving here sooner and faster, thanks to state governments becoming super-tyrannical virtually overnight.
Concentrating liberty activists in one small, low-population state is effective. The Free State Project is no pie-in-the-sky, fanciful idea. It’s a real movement with nearly two-decades under its belt. It’s a proven success. Anyone paying attention knows the freedom migration to NH has had more wins in 15 years than the entire Libertarian Party has nationally in 50 years.
It’s no surprise that with the world’s largest concentration of libertarians on the planet, New Hampshire is the freest place in all of North America, and arguably the entire world. Indeed, recently released studies from CATO and the Frasier Institute bear this out with hard numbers and research.
NH #1 in 2021 “Freedom In the 50 States” Study
CATO’s study, Freedom in the 50 States, looks at both economic and personal freedoms in multiple categories, coming up with rankings for each category and the overall score. Overall, New Hampshire has reclaimed the number one spot, defeating Florida, which had somehow snagged the top slot from NH in the 2020 rankings. Though the study is released in 2021, anything that actually happened in 2020 and 2021 are not factored into the study as it takes time to gather the statistics. The study’s authors point out in their NH analysis that New Hampshire had some major advances in freedom in 2021, like Education Savings Accounts, and lowering and eliminating taxes, and they expect NH to put some distance between it and #2 Florida in the coming years. These advances are largely due to the dozens of Free Staters who have been elected to the state house and the tireless efforts of groups like the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance.
Not only did New Hampshire beat Florida in the CATO study, but in the 2021 Economic Freedom of North America study by the Frazier Institute – with data from 2019 – NH again took the top spot, beating #2 Florida when all US states, Canadian provinces, and Mexican states were considered. New Hampshire also took number one in their separate ranking looking at just state and local laws affecting freedom, with Tennessee taking the #2 spot there and Florida dropping to #3. The difference in the results are that the overall North America freedom rankings factors in Federal government restrictions and the rankings of just the states ignores Federal controls. New Hampshire wins in both rundowns!
We’ll even help you move-in!
Finally, thanks to the Free State Project‘s newsletter for pointing this one out, the “Taxpayer Return-on-Investment” rankings from Wallethub for 2021 show New Hampshire as the number one state, meaning not only do its inhabitants have an overall low tax burden, but that its government “services” are relatively high quality considering their low cost.
As the numbers of liberty migrants to NH continue to grow, it will get harder for the little tyrants to have any success expanding the state. They will continue to be frustrated and eventually, they’ll quit, as many already have. They they will leave New Hampshire for places where their meddling ways are common and welcome, like Massachusetts and New York. New York, by the way, is number 50 in both the Frazier and CATO studies. Libertarians who want a better life instantly and who are willing to work towards more freedom should move to New Hampshire as soon as possible. Here are 101 reasons why you should.
Don’t be fooled. Florida is not going to get more free and libertarians there have zero influence. Florida a police state. If you’re a conservative, move to Florida or Texas. If you’re a liberal, move to California or the other West Coast states. If you love liberty, there’s only one place on the planet with the largest and most successful liberty community, and that’s New Hampshire.
