$5 Fine Goes Up In Smoke

    At City Council on July 9th, at approximately 9:05 pm. Mayor James E. Stephenson and his Republican lackeys voted to repeal Ann Arbor's historic $5 weed law. They were immediately surrounded by angry, shouting and stomping hordes of women, men and children; two pies were hurled through the air and landed just short of the cowering Stephenson's head.

    Within three minutes, the irate people chased the Republican stooges out of Council Chambers.

   The entire Council session was, in the words of Pun Plamondon - the first public speaker of the night - "a circus!" Booing and hissing greeted the Mayor each time he tried to speak, joints flew through the air, gay activists flirted outrageously with Council members, and, at the end, the people rose up in protest to seize the Council dais and rip the hypocritical "All American" plaque from the Council wall. Ann Arbor police were hurriedly dispatched to protect the halls of injustice.

    "We must rid out city of this unsavory trade," the Mayor squealed in his address just before the vote. "We must give the police the means to get the pot dealers who are a social blight, so we can restore the image of our town."

    "We're tired of smoking in the closets," returned a righteous woman in the crowd, as Democratic Councilwoman Carol Jones picked up her microphone to say "everything the Republicans have said is just a lot of crap!"

    The Republicans, moments earlier, had hastily voted down an amendment Jones proposed that the weed issue be put to a public vote.

    "The marijuana law is an election payoff the Human Rights Party made to its followers," Stephenson croaked, struggling to make his self-serving arguments heard above the on-going roar of the crowd. "The marijuana ordinance is the direct cause of a sharp rise in violent crime in the city," he lied, "and the pot dealers are the reason we

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are having trouble." The people didn't buy the Lord Mayor's line, nor did they fall for his attempt to divide and conquer them when he stated, "We just want the dealers - not the casual users."

   "Do you have the guts to put the weed law on the ballot and let the people decide?' challenged HRP Councilman Jerry DeGrieck.

     The Republicans refused to answer his query and turned deaf ears to his assertion that "marijuana should be legalized everywhere!" DeGrieck was undaunted.

"The weed law will be reinstated," he warned, "and all of you will be out in the street. THE PEOPLE WONT FORGET!"

    Republican Councilman William Colburn apparently forgot the people, however, as he jumped on the Republican bandwagon with the all-time first in double talk to say, "I am in favor of the legalization of marijuana, but the Ann Arbor ordinance has nothing to do with that."

    Colburn did receive one loud round of applause, though, when he went on record as being in favor of "a higher quality of marijuana" for the people. It is not yet clear exactly how repeal of the $5 law will affect so-called "casual users."

    But City Hall was abuzz with speculation that the police will soon start cracking down on people growing marijuana in their yards.

    Certainly the door has been opened for the courts to slap people in jail for puffing on a joint - or just for carrying one. The penalties are 90 days for use and one year for possession under the state law. Selling weed carries a maximum sentence of four years. The fault for turning our community into prime hunting territory for nares lies with the Republicans.

   But it is the progressive people of this city - who are still in a majority here despite the Republican takeover of Council this spring - who now must take responsibility for getting rid of the Republicans as soon as possible. One idea that has been suggested is that we launch a recall campaign against some or all of the Republican council members. If we are to be successful at that, however, we must all work together.

   The reason the Republicans gained control of the council in the first place is because the Democrats and HRP split the progressive vote. We can't afford to let that happen again.