This story by the Keene Sentinel’s David P. Greisman is about the small group of mostly high schoolers that showed up to protest the cannabis celebrations on Saturday. I had a lengthy discussion with protestors Ann and Diana to try to understand where they were coming from. They did think that cannabis consumers should be left alone at home, but otherwise support putting them in cages as well as making cigarettes illegal. They think that putting addictive substances in your body is “immoral”, with the exception of caffeine, because… well, they drink it. They actually had cups of coffee out at their protest. Diana even admitted to being addicted to caffeine. I pointed out to them that I would never advocate their caging for such peaceful activities and asked if they believed in god. They answered yes, but that god has nothing to do with this. According to them cannabis is man’s fault because man plants the seeds. (They did not believe it still grows in the wild!) They did not answer my question about where the seeds came from beyond saying that not everything natural is good for you. Finally I asked them what Jesus would do to cannabis consumers. Wouldn’t he use compassion, love, forgiveness, and understanding? That was my final question as I bid them good day. Here’s the Sentinel’s story:
It didn’t matter to them that there were only a handful of them there. It didn’t matter to them that the occasional person who drove by yelled at them or gave them the finger.
It only mattered to them that they were there, standing Saturday afternoon in Keene’s Central Square, protesting against marijuana use after more than a week of seeing people protest in favor of the drug in that very same spot.
The gatherings in favor of marijuana legalization or decriminalization had drawn dozens upon dozens.
The gatherings against? Five, at most.
“We wanted to show that not everyone here does drugs or is all about smoking marijuana,” said Diana M. Stepka, a 17-year-old from Chesterfield. (more…)
Thanks to Phil Bantz for this article about the Keene police’s position on the cannabis celebrations at 4:20 everyday in Central Square. While KPD is doing the right thing and ignoring the peaceful people gathering daily and toking up, it’s amusing to listen to them attempt to explain that they are serious about cannabis use and would be arresting people if they could only just determine that laws were being broken. Maybe someday they’ll actually admit that what they have been doing in the name of some arbitrary words on paper has been WRONG, and they are sorry.
Until then, leaving peaceful people alone will suffice. Here’s the story:
The marijuana protesters in downtown Keene are getting high on publicity, while city police have adopted a wait-and-see strategy.
Every afternoon for the past week, protesters have gathered at Central Square to promote the decriminalization of marijuana. They upped the ante Sunday by showing up at the Keene Police Department lobby, where they cheered and smoked.
No protesters were arrested during the demonstration at the police station. So far, just one protester has been arrested and charged with marijuana possession. (more…)
During last week’s “Talkback” on WKBK, Free Keene’s Nick Ryder appeared as a guest interview in regards to his city council candidacy. Following that, more liberty activists called in to discuss the conflict promoted by the existence of the state. Also discussed was cannabis decriminalization, violence, neighborly interaction, zoning, changing Keene, Free Staters, hugging, cannabis users, angry people, and freedom. You’ll also hear the smarmy Dartmouth guy call in and attack the intellect and accomplishments of liberty activists.
Please join us for our weekly listening, chat, and calling sessions on Saturday mornings from 9a-12p in the Free Keene Chat room. If you’re online, you can listen to Talkback streamed live via the Liberty Radio Network and if you’re in the Keene area you can tune in to WKBK 1290 AM or 104.1 FM. The Talkback discussion thread is here on the Free Keene Forum.
The smokers are protesting marijuana laws and say they’ll smoke in Central Square daily until the law changes. Police say they won’t tolerate wanton law-breaking, but have no plans for a crackdown.
Marijuana may or may not spark creativity, but it has long inspired music. Bessie Smith and Willie Nelson have sung its praises, as has pretty much any reggae and hip hop artist you’d care to name. But none of them were in Keene Wednesday.
“Well in my life I’ve learned that serving’s not the point
Give me a toke off that joint, oh yeah
There’s a 420 fest every day in Keene
People being peaceful and free….”
Recorded as it happened and unedited. The jumps in the beginning are me hitting the pause button on the camera. Kurt was sentenced to 180 days in jail for attempting to converse with Edward Burke, the robed man calling himself a judge.
Cheshire sheriffs demand we not record as Kurt Hoffman who minutes before was incapacitated by Eli Rivera, Keene PD’s prosecutor, is wheeled out from Keene District Court on a stretcher. They claim some words on paper called “HIPA” prevent the “free press” from recording people receiving medical care, even if the recipient requests cameras present:
Did you know that EMS workers are also now enforcers of some arbitrary words on paper called “HIPA”? (I didn’t – I thought they were good people who do their best to help. Guess that’s not true of all of them.) EMS workers and sheriffs claim that “HIPA” allows them to prevent you from recording video of what they do with patients. Apparently it doesn’t matter what the patient wants. Watch as this thug steals my camera. I then spent over an hour of my time waiting around to get it back. Watch for another angle and longer video coming from ObscuredTruth.com soon here at FreeKeene.com
The Ridley Report was there to record history in the making as a heroic Manchester liberty activist named Travis sells cannabis openly in a public park, all the while in possession of an “open container”! Have the Keeniacs been out-disobedienced?
Thanks to Phil Bantz for 
During last week’s “Talkback” on WKBK, Free Keene’s Nick Ryder appeared as a guest interview in regards to his city council candidacy. Following that, more liberty activists called in to discuss the conflict promoted by the existence of the state. Also discussed was cannabis decriminalization, violence, neighborly interaction, zoning, changing Keene, Free Staters, hugging, cannabis users, angry people, and freedom. You’ll also hear the smarmy Dartmouth guy call in and attack the intellect and accomplishments of liberty activists.
