Yesterday the house Criminal Justice and Public Safety committee heard not just one, but two cannabis legalization bills, in addition to a decriminalization proposal. The hearing was populated with the usual bureaucrats and law enforcement busybodies, as well as a number of professionals, activists, and entrepreneurs speaking in favor. HB 492 presents a controlled, “tax and regulate” schema for cannabis distribution in New Hampshire. HB 337, if passed, would result in a much simpler legalization, only removing prohibitions from state law, making the substance just as legal and tomatoes, basil, and other plants and herbs. A decriminalization proposal, HB 621, would make possession of under an ounce punishable by no more than a $100 fine.
The Union Leader has published a summary. Video and written coverage has also been published regarding HB 492 at adventuresinthefreestate.com, which also links to other mainstream coverage of the historic hearing.
Embedded below is the first of many Free Concord videos in a playlist from the public testimony during HB 492 and HB 337.
In the spirit of the Franklin Youth Initiative, government school programs turned out schoolchildren in opposition to any leniency upon the cannabis consumer plague.
Dozens of people from across NH came to the cannabis decrim/legalization hearings and spoke out in the criminal justice committee this afternoon at the state house in Concord. The Union Leader has a story about it here. (Al Capone was me, by the way.)
Here’s what Sarah from the NH Teapot Party had to say about the event:
So, in my opinion this was THE BEST hearing I have ever attended in regards to cannabis! I have sat through many hearings and watched the committee members falling asleep or rolling their eyes as the constituents talked, but sit upright and fully alert when law enforcement had their turn. It was always frustrating and infuriating. Today was almost the exact opposite!!!! What a GREAT afternoon!!! Not only were many of the committee members smiling and nodding at the testimony of those in favor, they were asking good questions. The opposition had their canned rehearsed testimony and were for the most part unable to answer questions.
Things just keep getting better as more liberty activists arrive as part of the Free State Project. If you love liberty, why aren’t you here yet? Here are 101 reasons to move to NH.
The New Hampshire Freedom blog reports on the Free State Project participants who were the supermajority of the voting differential on critical budget votes on Monday night in Keene. All the proposals to increase the suggested budget failed, and the last one to increase the budget failed by only six votes! There were at least five Free State Project participants in the room. The NH Freedom blog has the full story, “Have Keene Free Staters finally started to free Keene?”.
Unfortunately, our participation in politics, while better than ever, is still low. Keene has always attracted apolitical activists, and hopefully we are starting to see that change as even with small numbers we have already proved we can have an impact.
On February 7, the Election Law Committee of the NH House of Representatives heard testimony on HB521, a bill that proposes to establish a committee to examine all of New Hampshire’s election laws and see where there’s room for improvement.
Darryl Perry of the New Hampshire Liberty Party said “the perfect solution” to increase voter participation is “to create ballot access fairness.”
He said opponents claim that would create confusion. But, he said, “New Hampshire is actually very proud of the fact that they have a larger number of candidates running in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. So if ballot or voter confusion is not a problem for the primaries, why would it then all of a sudden become a problem for the general election?”
“The answer is: It’s not a problem,” he said.
The Election Law Committee will hold an Executive Session at some point in the near future (the date and time has not yet been added to the House calendar). During the Executive Session, the committee will decide whether or not to adopt the amendment I proposed and also vote on whether or not the bill should go before the full House.
Steve Vaillancourt sent me the following response to my open letter:
“I choose to exercise my right to free speech and hearing and not listen to or read a single word you have to say, but I will not ask for your censure, censor, or impeachment from you libertarian status.”
Some people, including you, have claimed that I’m “not libertarian” because I called for the censure of a State Representative who stated that she wishes to restrict freedoms in an attempt to target a specific group of people. You called this a “witch hunt to deny free speech to a duly elected representative.” You don’t specify how a censure denies anyone’s free speech. Censure is defined as, to “express severe disapproval of (someone or something), typically in a formal statement.” When a legislative body censures someone, they are formally expressing disapproval of a statement or action of an elected official. There is no removal of that person’s freedom of speech, simply a formal statement that the body disapproves of what was said. Impeachment is “a formal document charging a public official with misconduct in office.” Again, nothing about removing free speech in that definition either! [NH RSA’s do not define either term, so I am using the definitions from Google] (more…)
Dozens of people from across NH came to the cannabis decrim/legalization hearings and spoke out in the criminal justice committee this afternoon at the state house in Concord. The 
