Edited and managed by students at the University oftMichigan Editorials printed in The Michigan Dady express the individual opinions of the author. This must be noted in all reprints WEDNESDAY MAY 17 1972 News Phone: 764-0552 Toward legal pot CITY COUNCIL should be highly commended for pass- ing an extremely liberal marijuana ordinance Mon- day night. The new ordinance, which sets a fine of five dollars for the use or sale of marijuana, is a radical departure from a previous city law which allowed for a high fine and imprisonment for use of the drug. The new law makes marijuana use equivalent to parking or building code violations. Marijuana users will no longer be considered criminals under the law. MARIJUANA use in this country has been rising rapid- ly in the past few years. Studies have been unable to find any serious medical danger in marijuana use. The- laws governing marijuana use and possession have been widely outdated, calling for severe penalties and imprisonment. Arrests for marijuana use have become political gestures. The law has been used to show antagonism to- ward a lifestyle, rather than to show concern for citi- zens' health. When the law isn't responsive to the be- liefs of the people, the people lose respect for the law. City Council's action is an imaginative use of the law, bringing the law in line with the spirit of the peo- ple. In our community, where marijuana use is rampant, the few people arrested under the new law will no longer be given severe sentences to make examples of them.. THE RAINBOW People's Party is presently sponsoring a state petition drive to place the question of mari- juana legalization on Michigan's Aug. 8 ballot. The new city ordinance is a positive move for the present, but we can and should take the next step and act to legalize marijuana now. Support the Michigan Marijuana Initiative and sign the petitions. -MERYL GORDON NIGHT EDITOR: ROBERT BARKIN EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR: ARTHUR LERNER ASSISTANT NIGHT EDITOR: DIANE LEVICK PHOTO TECHNICIAN: DENNY GAINER Summer Staff City's retirement und: Where the money goes Ta EaCI YINVaSTS resident tax monies and employe deduc- tion funds in ITT, which doesn't supply phone service in the United States, but has connections overseas. money is being spent, 'however. If you are a city fireman, for example, with doubts about n- vesting in a corpany that supplied the napahn used in Vietnam Dow Chemical), you can complain to Ralph Teeter, your representative on the board. If you are a member of AFS- CME, cencerned ever retiring on dividends froemBell Telephone Co. or ATT, contact Nelson Watling, the union's board member. If you are a city policeman, con- fused over investing part of your salary in Abbott Laboratories, whenapharmaceutical companies are accused of aggravating E h e problem of drug abuse, you should talk to Richard Crygen, the board's police representative. If you are an Ann Arbor citi- zen, curious as to whether y o u r stock will be used to support Cam- paign GM, a drive to maue GM disclose its operations to the pub- lic, contact Melvin Fiegel, Carl Fisher, William Broucek, 'sr Laur- en Jedele all of whom represent your interests on the board. According to Jedele, the board has been quite "conservative" in purchasing stock in the past, and some of' its members feel that the board should invest in stocks more heavily. If you want to give your opinions on city investments direct- ly to the board members, they will hold a meeting, open to the pub- lic, next Wednesday at 3:30 in City Hall. By JIM O'BRIEN "The Vietnam sconeit is another important factor which has creat- ed urgent requirements during the year for specialized electronics equipment. ITT's world-wide elec- tronic and teleonmnunication cap- abilities have enabled ii to respond to these needs by supplying com- munication, air navigation, and othed tactical rquipmrnt for uses by our land, sea, and air forces in junrgle warfare." -ITT Annual Report, 15 * INTERNATIONAL Telephone and Telegraph, the company re- cently accused of interfering in Chile's national elections and a, long-time weapons supplier for the Vietnam War; * General Motors, another large supplier of war material, and a tacit supporter of South Africa's "apartheid" policy; * Georgia Pacific, cited by many environmentalists as one of the nation's major polluters; If you work for the city of Ann Arbor, you pay at least three per cent of your salary to invest in these companies. If you own pro- perty in the city of Ann Arbor, 2.5 mills of your tax money is used to invest in them. You have invested in Shell Oil, Texaco, Standard Oil of N e w Jersey, Pacific Gas and Electric, and United States Steel. The list of your investments goes on for seventeen pages - the an- nual report of the city of Ann Ar- bor's employe retirement system. THE SYSTEM uses salary de- ductions from city employes and tax money to make investments in corporate and public utility bondu, stocks and mutual funds totalling 76 per cent of the fund's nearly $11 million current market value. Investments for the fund are the responsibility of the City Retire- ment Board, an independent body not answerable to city govern- ment, according to one of its mem- hers, Lauren Jedele, the city con- troller. Stocks are discussed thoroughly by the board before purchase, both corporate interests and products, but there is no process 'or review- ing the stocks afterwards, accord- ing to Jedele. What this means is that once a stock is bought by the fund it can stay there, regardless of the com- pany's policies or lack of profit (as in the case of ITT) until the board sees fit to sell it. THERE IS a way for you to express concern over the vay your i To Th THE menti of won speedy ted for reports Judici 80th C Letters to The Daily ERA support. cilitate sharing the responsibili- ties of citizenship more equit- e Daily: ably. The purpose of the amendment EQUAL RIGHTS amend- is not to reduce the benefits for is necessary to the dignity one sex, but to extend them to nen and men. We urge its both sexes. passage. It has been stud- The amendment is needed. It r more than 48 years and is sound, and we have delayed ed favorably by the Senate too long. Please urge your state ary Committee since the representative and senator to rat- ongress. ify the ERA soon. BOB ANDREWS .... ROBERT BARKIN JAN BENEDETTI. ROSE SUE BERSTEIN DANIEL BORUS .. ROBERT CONROW. LINDA DREEBEN . DENNY GAINER .. ANDY t'OLD5ING MERYL GORDON. HARRY HIRSCH.-, TAMMY JACOBS.- SHERRY KASTLE KAREN LAAKKO. ELLIOT LEGOW ARTE CRLERNER. DIANE LEVICK .. DAVID MARGOLICK. SHEILA MARTIN JIM OBRIEN NANCY ROSENBAUss. ROLFE TESSEM,.. PAUL'TRAVIS ... GARY VILLANI :.-,-. JIM WALLACE RORERT WARO DEBORAH WHITING. CAROL WIECK-..-...... MARCIA ZOSLAW ,..-- . . --. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Associate Sports Editor ...Night Editor ............. Night Editor .Co-Editor .Sports Nghst Eto .Pasts Editur Night Editor Photography Editor Buainess Manager Assistant Night Editar Display Manager .....Night Editor .Circulation Manager Classified Manager ......Sports Editor Co-Editor Assistant Nigit Editur .htographe General Business Assistant .Science Editor .Assistant Night Editor .Phtogrupher .Night Edito .Photographer .Photographer .Photgrapher .Ciecuiatiun Assistanit General Business Assistant .Assistant Night Editos By failing to take action on this amendment, we have allowed the women of our country to suffer the burdens of second - class citizenship - burdens which are not justifiable and can no longer be tolerated. By law, women have been ex- cluded from juries; sentenced more harshly than men for some crimes; not permitted and often restricted in their right to con- tract and to sign leases; "pro- tected" right out of supervisory jobs and meaningful advance- ment. The ERA would not eliminate natural physiological differences between the sexes but would fa- -Debbie Hagerty, Vicki Quist, Christine Hall, Nancy Schauer May 13 Letters to The Daily should be mailed to the Editorial Di- rector or delivered to M a r-y Rafferty in the Student Pub- lications business office in the Michigan Daily building. Let- ters should be typed, double- spaced and normally should .not exceed 250 words. The Editorial Directors reserve the right to edit all letters sub- mitted. Ile) OISOBEp- I ~C) 8 A..-lf i~~rn~ M ) r T~ YOR UFO A JP ACT- f" PEFW- blf(v PN IT FORWARP -- AWID CC .T 5--(4 f fX D9ac. Yubllsl