Under the Obama Administration raids and prosecutions of such controlled substances as medical marijuana and raw milk have only increased. Apparently, so has the knowledge among jurors in New Hampshire as well as other states of the power of jurors to acquit their neighbors. Any individual juror can do this by following the dictates of his or her conscience rather than those of people calling themselves government.

To wit, there is a trial scheduled for 7 January 2013 for Wisconsin farmer Vernon Hershberger, on charges that include operating a retail food establishment, farm and dairy plant without licences, and violating a hold order placed on his dairy products after a raid on his farm.

The good news for Hershberger is that momentum and precedent is on his side. In late September, Minnesota farmer Alvin Shlangen was acquitted through jury nullification, having faced three misdemeanor counts of selling unpasteurized milk, operating without a food license and handling adulterated or misbranded food.

Whatever one’s opinion may be about raw versus pasteurized milk, the deeper question remains: Is it any of the state’s business what people (that means you, dear reader) peaceably buy, sell, trade, produce or put in their own bodies?