This year’s seventh annual Concord 420 celebration on the state house steps attracted approximately 100 hardcore attendees who faced possible misdemeanor charges for possession of cannabis as they smoked in defiance of prohibition on Wednesday April 20th at 4:20pm.
Here is a list of the scumbag senators who voted to continue the insane war on cannabis in NH and continue locking peaceful cannabis users in cages:
Republicans
Democrats
Sen. Regina Birdsell (r)
Sen. David Boutin (r)
Sen. Sharon Carson (r)
Sen. Sam Cataldo (r)
Sen. Gary Daniels (r)
Sen. Jeanie Forrester (r)
Sen. Gerald Little (r)
Sen. Chuck Morse (r)
Sen. Russell Prescott (r)
Sen. Nancy Stiles (r)
Sen. Lou D’Allesandro (d)
Sen. Andrew Hosmer (d)
Sen. Betty Laske (d)
Sen. Donna Soucy (d)
Here’s what one of the prohibitionists, Sen. Gary Daniels, a Milford Republican, said to the Concord Monitor:
“We are in a war…The last thing we need is to tell our citizens that it’s okay to use a little marijuana or any other illegal substance.”
Hopefully these sociopaths will be ejected from their seats come this November when prohibitionist governor Maggie Hassan will also be replaced by someone hopefully better on this issue.
Stay tuned here to Free Keene for more media from the successful 420 event in Concord this week.
The torch, which looks like a big joint with real flame emanating from a gas tank it its tip, began its trip in Maine and will end in Miami. New Hampshire was its first symbolic passing, and as you’ll see from the hundreds of pictures linked below, everyone got a chance to take a symbolic toke!
Libertarian Presidential Candidate Darryl W Perry Takes a Rip
Though the time of the event was “high noon”, dozens came out to attend! That should be a good indicator for the attendance of next week’s seventh-annual 4/20 event at the state house in Concord, which should be even better attended as this event was put together in a hurry.
Join us to celebrate ending prohibition on Wednesday 4/20 at 4:20pm at the state house in Concord, NH! The following day on 4/21, please come to the NH senate chamber at the state house to see if they will approve cannabis decrim this year finally or once again kill it after the house of representatives overwhelmingly approved it.
Kudos to NH Hempfest‘s organizers Rick and Laurie as well as the Rebel Love Show for putting together such a successful event on short notice and good luck to the cannabis torch as it makes its way down the east coast to Miami.
What a great group!
Here are hundreds of photos from yesterday’s festivities:
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.
The federal criminal trial against local Keene business owner Panos Eliopoulos is nearing an end. The DEA raided his store Phat Stuff in May 2014 on suspicion of selling the synthetic cannabinoid PB-22. Although undercover agents had purchased PB-22 from Phat Stuff on August 9, 2013, the sale of PB-22 was not prohibited by the DEA until February 10, 2014, by which time Phat Stuff had stopped selling the compound to comply with the law. Since the Constitution prohibits ex post facto enforcement of laws, Panos could not be charged with drug trafficking. Not content to leave empty handed, the US Attorney’s Office filed a criminal indictment against Panos and his wife Katie in February 2015 for Conspiracy to Offer Drug Paraphernalia for Sale (21 USC 846 and 21 USC 863) and Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering (18 USC 1956). In a plea deal filed on March 10, 2016, Panos and his attorney reached the following agreement with the US Attorney’s Office: (more…)
Since the Summer of 2015, multiple UBER drivers in Portsmouth have been regularly committing civil disobedience by driving without jumping through the city’s arbitrary hoops. Effectively the city outlawed UBER by creating ridiculous regulations designed to protect the cab companies from much-needed competition. Despite this, UBER’s app has continued to work, so drivers like “UBER Grandma” Stephanie Franz have continued to take passengers where they want to go.
Franz has been rewarded with several $500-$1,000 tickets from police for her good deeds. Despite facing financial ruin at the hands of the city, she has heroically continued to drive – much to the disgust of the awful cab drivers who have continued a campaign of intimidation against her. She’s had her tail light smashed in previously, has been boxed in by cabbies multiple times, and just today posted this to facebook:
Interesting night in Portsmouth. Taxi drivers are all pumped up over Portsmouth’s temporary threat to “sting” uber drivers. What polite and “manly” men they are. It started last night with a pick up at the Moose. As my riders were entering my car out of the bar walks, the pillar of manhood, cigarette hanging out of his mouth, crabby cabbie [Anchor Taxi owner Merle White]. He sees me picking up my ride and endearing words were yelled “there’s that fucking Uber grandma”. My ride was so ticked off that he started yelling back at him. As the night progressed the rest of the chosen few made their statements too.
Angry Seacoast Cabbies Hate Competition – Photo Courtesy Seacoast Online
They would pull up next to my car, stop or slow down and stare at me as I was waiting for my next ride. Whoever that handsome hunk of manhood , with the well kept gray beard, Beautiful glaring eyes, and tooth was, I hope you got your eyes full as you stared at me from your taxi van.
To the Three Musketeers who stood by their vans at the bus stop on Market Square; Butts hanging out of your mouths, extending those well defined cannons for arms and pointing at me as I would leave my parking position at the end of Pleasant Street to go pick up riders. They guarded my spot four or five times as I would leave and come back. Oh, almost forgot they spoke fluent mumble. Thank you Portsmouth taxis for your enjoyable evening.
The threat of a sting operation that she’s referring to is coming from Portsmouth police chief David Mara who this week announced a coming crackdown against UBER drivers. Assistant mayor Jim Splaine says he supports a crackdown as unregistered drivers should not, “exploit the system”. They are spurred on by cab company owner John Palreiro who claims UBER drivers are “stealing” from him, as though he owns every rider in town. Check out this Seacoast Online article to read the full ridiculousness of this protection racket’s scheming to destroy the innovators in the transport market.
