[420 Girl]

At 4:19 p.m. a one minute contdown excites a crowd in Central Square at Keene. A man in a shirt reading “4:20 everyday at 4:20” paraphrases Thomas Jefferson and yells, “I hope for the day when people don't fear their government, but the government fears it's people.”

As 4:20 p.m. arrives, cars passing by honk and yell out their support.

This has been the typical scene at Central Square for the last two weeks, as protestors have shown up in large numbers to protest the country’s drug laws by smoking marijuana in public.

Keene residents Noah Wood and Rich Paul started the movement after the TEA party in Central Square two weeks ago.

“We thought, what better way to protest drug laws then to smoke pot,” Wood said. “Then we thought, why not come back tomorrow? Then it kind of evolved from there.”

In the last week the story has been reported by the Union Leader and WMUR.

The Keene City Council tabled a discussion last week over whether or not to support the decriminalization of marijuana.

Wood said that after the story was picked up by the Union Leader he began distributing fliers and signs encouraging people to come smoke pot everyday at 4:20 p.m. In Central Square.

“I thought 15 people was great, but when I saw 30 people show up, I was pretty sure it could get pretty big,” Wood said. “Either it had to get big or it would have to stop because people would get arrested.

According to Wood and Paul, only two people have been arrested by Keene police.

Paul was arrested for marijuana possession.

Another protestor was also arrested for possession, but was let go by police when it was discovered he did not have marijuana.

A protestor, identifying himself only as Richard, said the man actually had “mint leaves flavored like chocolate.”

“When cops show up I wave [a box of junior mints] at them,” Richard said. “I yell, 'Arrest me! Arrest me!'”

Both arrests were followed by protestors camping outside the police station and smoking marijuana. Paul said since then, the police have left the protestors alone.

“They want to deny us the news cycle,” Paul said.

“But also they weren't sure what was going to happen next. After the second arrest, eight kids showed up and smoked a joint in the police station. It's humiliating for them that we can do that.”

Ian Freeman, a Keene resident and a regular at the protests, said he thinks the police want to avoid similar situations.

“They just think, 'we don't want that to happen again,' and it's true,” Freeman said. “If they hadn't arrested anyone, we wouldn't have gone to the police station.”

Freeman said that while he is happy so many people are coming to the protests initially, he was surprised by the response.

“I have envisioned something like this happening in Keene,” Freeman said.

“I thought it would be a small group of hard-core activists, but that group has blossomed to a lot of just regular folks too.”

The idea hasn't been met with universal acceptance.

Over the weekend residents gathered on Central Square to protest the marijuana smokers, but Paul said hostility has been minimal.

“Both sides have been very civil,” Paul said. “They think that they have a rightful say over what I do to my body, and I obviously disagree.”

Wood hopes that the idea can attract other cities to do the same and is working on a Web site for others to join in.

So far, Wood said that something similar is happening in Manchester and Nashua.

“You have people at the G-20 Summits getting beat like baby seals, so this is unheard of,” Wood said.

“We have 30 to 100 people smoking pot with no one getting hurt. I think all towns should have a 4/20 hangout.”

As for the future, Wood said that he will continue with the protest until laws are changed.

“I don't know if anyone will be out here with me,” Wood said. “But I'll be here until the drug war is over.”

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