With a solid veto-proof margin, the New Hampshire house of representatives overwhelmingly passed cannabis decriminalization today, 297-67, according to state rep Kyle Tasker. That’s a significant increase over 2014’s 215-92 vote on decrim. 297 votes is 38% higher than last year’s 215. A total of 74.25% of the house’s 400 members voted for the bill and 16.75% voted against. That leaves 9% who did not vote. Of those who voted, over 81% voted in favor of decrim.
If this isn’t a mandate, I don’t know what is. Now the bill moves on to the senate, where it died last time. However, it’s a new senate and a new year. With evidence of cannabis legalization’s success mounting, and now even Washington DC legalizing, politicians in NH are finding a little backbone. Sadly, they are late to the party – the other New England states have decriminalized cannabis, some more recently, but Maine as far back as the 1970s.
Maybe the overwhelming support for decrim in this house vote will transfer to the senate, or maybe not. If it passes the senate, unless governor Maggie Hassan finds her conscience, they’ll have to pass this with a 2/3rds veto-proof margin in order to stop Hassan from striking this much-needed legislation down.
Keene is a special place. It attracts some of the best, most noteworthy activists out there. Some move on to other parts of New Hampshire, some continue their journey elsewhere, and others put down roots here. We don’t get the number of movers that Manchester does, but those that come are some of the most distinguished activists out there. The other Keeniacs who are part of Tony Stiles’ list include, Chris Cantwell, Derrick J Freeman, and this blogger.
When you move the best activists together, amazing things can happen. That’s the point of the Free State Project. If you love liberty, you should make plans to move to New Hampshire and get active. Here are 150+ reasons to consider Keene as your destination.
At a recent, well-attended and lengthy hearing held by the criminal justice committee at the state house regarding studying cannabis legalization, a state representative from Rockingham, Kyle Tasker, put his freedom on the line.
The cop behind him didn’t seem to know what to do. After all, he likely wouldn’t hesitate to arrest Tasker for possessing cannabis in the streets. However, arresting him in front of the committee would only prove the point of the cannabis freedom activists – that people are arrested all the time for cannabis – something about which the police frequently mislead the legislators. (more…)
Thanks to hosts Parker Springfield and Judy Fine for having me! I hope I’ll get to come back, as the conversation has just gotten started. Maybe by then someone can step forward to face me on the show and explain why freedom is such a bad idea. Until then, subscribe to their youtube and follow Monadnock Showdown on facebook.
Who says court has to be boring? In Keene, 5 activists turned out to support me for a simple parking ticket arraignment. We laughed and joked as one wore a winter hat despite the court rules of decorum prohibiting headwear. We watched as the obedient slaves took their whippings and pled guilty to a bunch of vicimless crimes. Then it was my turn.
I decided ahead of time that I was going to try an experiment: I would remain silent. Would the judge get mad? Would he compel me to speak by threatening arrest? It turns out, he ended up acting as my defense attorney! Watch this 2-minute clip:
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Here’s a fascinating post by freedom-hating blog Miscellany Blue that does a great job at summing up some of the really exciting things that will be happening at the annual Grafton, NH town meeting. It’s a testament to the power of numbers. With relatively few movers to Grafton, liberty activists have the state-supporters on the defensive, desperately begging for advocates of coercion to come to said meeting. Here’s the report from Miscellany Blue’s William Tucker:
The town of Grafton is ground zero in the Free Stater effort to move in and dismantle government. The group’s antics during last year’s town meeting — which began with an argument over the “Rules of Decorum” that prohibited cursing, name calling and personal attacks — made national headlines. “This year’s meeting should be even more interesting,” brags Free libertarianin an online comment. (more…)
With a solid veto-proof margin, the New Hampshire house of representatives overwhelmingly passed cannabis decriminalization today, 297-67, according to state rep Kyle Tasker. That’s a significant increase over 2014’s 215-92 vote on decrim. 297 votes is 38% higher than last year’s 215. A total of 74.25% of the house’s 400 members voted for the bill and 16.75% voted against. That leaves 9% who did not vote. Of those who voted, over 81% voted in favor of decrim.
