It’s been just over a month since the FBI, state police, and Keene police raided the Free Talk Live and LRN.FM studio in a search for alleged child pornography. They confiscated dozens of storage devices and computers and though we don’t expect them to find any child porn, we also didn’t expect to get anything back anytime soon. Apparently these investigations can take months or as much as a year or more. (It took the DEA nine months to arrest the owners of Phat Stuff after their raid.)
However, in a pleasantly unexpected development, the FBI has returned the video camera I use to record court hearings and other various activism, the Canon HF-G30, when my attorney requested it!
When they were searching the house and found the camera, I asked them to google it to make sure it didn’t have any internal storage (it doesn’t), but they refused and confiscated it anyway. So, given how little they cared at the time, I didn’t expect to see it again for a year.
They were certainly not required to accede to the request, but they did. Thank you to the US attorney and FBI lead agent Scott Bailey. Hopefully this is the beginning of our vindication and a good sign for the return of our church’s equipment sooner rather than later.
Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest on the raid.
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 livestream will begin at 4:00pm EST.
Activists gather annually at the statehouse in Concord, New Hampshire. They smoke cannabis to protest plant prohibition.
This is a live event. If the video below is not live, you can access archived footage on Shire Dude’s Bambuser account.
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:
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.
