The Rebel Love Show in coordination with NH Hempfest & Freedom Rally organized the second leg of the East Coast Cannabis Coalition’s 2016 East Coast Unity Cypher. The Unity Torch (symbolically shaped like a cannabis cigarette/joint) will be passed from Portland, Maine to Miami, Florida to bring awareness about cannabis legalization on the east coast, as well as to show unity among the groups who are fighting for drug policy reform in their respective states.
Further information including a full schedule of events can be found at facebook.com/eastcoastunitycypher
Lots of big news from the State House in Concord where state representatives have passed cannabis decrim (again), a new jury nullification bill, used heroin needle decriminalization, civil asset forfeiture reform and more! Here’s a handy summary of what happened in March thanks to the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance‘s political director and liberty-oriented state rep Keith Ammon:
HB 1270 will require jurors in court cases to be clearly informed of their age-old right to vote according to their conscience and decide on the justness of a law as well as the facts in the case. This is known as “jury nullification.” The bill passed on a roll call vote with a significant margin.
HB 1420 would have allowed law enforcement to access patients’ private health care information without a warrant from a court. The Health and Human Services Committee recommended that the bill pass 11 to 6. The full House overturned the recommendation and overwhelmingly killed the bill on a roll call vote.
HB 1453 adds ulcerative colitis as an acceptable condition to receive medical cannabis. The HHS Committee recommendation was to kill the bill 9 to 6. The full House overturned the recommendation and passed the bill on a voice vote.
HB 1631 reduces penalties for possession of cannabis. The Criminal Justice Committee wanted the bill killed but the full House overturned the recommendation and the bill overwhelmingly passed on a voice vote, to the consternation of the some in House leadership. When the voice vote passed with near unanimous “Yeas,” the House erupted in cheers. The Speaker scolded House Members for “showing emotion.”
NH House Passes Used Needle Decrim!
The House had another session day on March 23rd. In that session the House voted to pass several education bills that protect student privacy and parental rights (HB 1229, HB 1231, HB 1338) and voted down a bill that would have required 100% of charter school teachers be credentialed by the state (HB 1120). A bill that would have legalized the possession and cultivation of marijuana for personal use (HB 1610) was “laid upon the table”, a motion which effectively kills the bill.
The House passed a bill that puts more reasonable restrictions on civil asset forfeiture laws (HB 636). Civil asset forfeiture is a practice where the state can charge a person’s property with a crime, and the accused would have to prove the property wasn’t engaged in crime, turning “innocent until proven guilty” on its head. Another bill (HB 1681) passed which removes the criminal penalty for possessing a needle with an unusable amount of heroin or another drug. This reduction in penalty paves the way for private organizations to set up needle exchanges, to help reduce some of the harmful costs of the heroin public health crisis. The sharing of needles contributes to the spread of diseases such as hepatitis and HIV aids.
There’s always something exciting going on at the New Hampshire State House. Come out and get involved. Show your support with time, energy, or financial resources. We can make a significant impact if we work at it together.
Ridley also cornered a few state reps with a good question about what depravity the federal government would have to stoop to before they would support NH secession: (more…)
The usual big government suspects came out to support HB 1632 last month, a bill that would make it illegal to provide guns to felons. (Though apparently the bill authors did not know it already is illegal, according to RSA 159:7.) Gun freedom advocates came out to oppose it, but not as many as would on most gun restriction bills, as lots of gun freedom people don’t want to be seen as taking the side of felons.
However, someone had to stick up for felons’ rights, so I testified about how they deserve to be free to defend themselves too. The felons intent on continuing a life of crime won’t be stopped by pesky laws from getting guns, but those who’ve turned their lives around are. They can’t as effectively protect themselves or their families because their “right” to bear arms has been stripped from them.
The committee voted 7-6 to “ITL” the bill. (Inexpedient to Legislate, aka, to recommend the full house kill it.) Here’s the full video of the hearing in the house criminal justice committee:
State Representative Kyle Tasker Faces 60 Years for Victimless Crimes
Liberty-friendly state representative Kyle Tasker of Nottingham is currently sitting in Rockingham county jail on $150,000 bail. He’s facing (so far) four felony charges that could result in 60 years of prison. However, he never harmed another human being. You may not want him dating your daughter, but he’s not actually created any actual victims with his “crimes”.
He’s facing three class A felony drug distribution charges for cannabis, psilocybin (mushrooms), and suboxone which were uncovered during a search of Kyle’s home after he was arrested for a class A felony count of “Certain Uses of Computer Services Prohibited”. The computer charge alleges that Kyle had intended to meet for sex with a 14-year-old female, who turned out to be an undercover cop pretending to be the girl.
According to an unsigned five page affidavit allegedly from Nottingham police, Tasker did initially meet S.J., a real 14-year-old female at a breakfast with his parents. After friending her on facebook, the police allege that he offered to acquire for her alcohol and cannabis and further requested a threesome with him and a “lady friend”. The affidavit says SJ unfriended Kyle and deleted the messages. At some point, SJ’s mother, identified as “KJ” in the affidavit, became aware of the communications and she called the police.
While the daughter, SJ, had already solved the problem by unfriending Kyle, the mother, KJ, decided to punish Kyle and the rest of society, by siccing the police against him. Now instead of producing for society by drilling wells (his day job when not serving at the state house), Kyle may be sitting in prison for up to 60 years, which we’ll all be forced to pay for. How does this benefit anyone?
Dylan Gingues and state rep Kyle Tasker with a big jar of primo cannabis outside the State House.
After KJ’s call to the police, they took control of SJ’s facebook account. Detective Chris Gilroy began to masquerade as though he were SJ and conversations allegedly about drugs and sex began. The unsigned police affidavit does not include any full conversation logs, and only the police’s side of the story. They excerpt certain alleged statements made by Kyle, but do not reveal any context around what detective Gilroy might have said to elicit those statements from Kyle.
Despite the conversations between the cop and Kyle, the actual teenager was never in any danger. Her mother could have congratulated her daughter for removing Kyle as a friend and if the mom wanted to go further, spread the word about Kyle’s interactions with her daughter. However, now countless police hours, court hours, and jurors’ hours will be wasted, and potentially dozens of years could be spent in jail, all because of an insane war on drugs and a system that punishes thought crime.
You may not like Kyle Tasker, but he didn’t create any victims. The police are the only ones who have victimized anyone here. They’ve victimized Kyle and all New Hampshire taxpayers by forcing us to pay for his trial and incarceration, while actual violent criminals face a mere fraction of the time Kyle is facing in prison. Selling drugs should not be illegal and neither should talking on the internet. Fraud however should be punished, but the only people engaging in fraud in this case were Nottingham police.
