By Robert Pembroke
California has gone bonkers.
My wife and I are on our annual winter trek to sunny California and are experiencing some very weird things down here. California elected officials have decided that they know better than you and I on how to live our lives and are passing dull-witted laws and regulations. I thought that Utah politicians were over-regulating, but they are saints as compared to California politicians.
A couple of days after we arrived in Dana Point, my wife and I went out to dinner and while we were waiting to be seated, I went out for a smoke. I was dutifully standing the mandated 25 feet away from the entrance, like always, when a man passing by said, “Don’t you know that you can’t smoke in Dana Point?” I replied, “You have got to be kidding.” He then, in a huff, snarled, “No, I am not.”
The next day I researched the law on my very expensive mobile device and found out that the guy’s statement about no smoking in Dana Point was correct. The Dana Point City Council, on a 3-to-2 vote, passed the new smoke-free city law.
There are two other examples of California’s elected officials micromanaging our lives: The California State Legislature is considering a law (AB1884) that will fine waitresses and waiters only at fine dining establishments $1,000 and face a possible six months in jail if they deliver a plastic straw to you without you asking for it. And now there are 21 miles of California beach in Malibu where plastic straws are not allowed — period. The Malibu City Council is recommending that you use bamboo straws in your home as a replacement for plastic straws.
“Coffee Can Cause Cancer.” That’s the other cockamamie scheme that the California do-gooders did when they passed Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, which mandates that restaurants display a warning sign that says “Coffee Can Cause Cancer,” even if the amount of the offending chemical that is present is far below the level that is already known to be safe. But, according to a February story in the Orange County Register, “Coffee contains acrylamide, which is the naturally occurring chemical that’s produced when coffee beans meet hot water, when potato slices meet hot oil or when baked goods go into an oven.”
California regulators added coffee to the list of chemicals “known to cause cancer” which, according to the law, means that if you own a restaurant with 10 or more employees and you don’t post the sign, you are subject to a fine of $2,500 for every exposure to the chemical. Thank God that, so far, Starbucks has not given in. Oh, by the way, both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the American Cancer Society have said “that there are currently no cancer types for which there are clearly an increased risk related to acrylamide intake.”
Now, I am a great believer in civil disobedience when it comes to unreasonable restrictions about the way I live. Salt Lake City officials passed a law that prohibits smoking in parks. Even though I am not a very good golfer, I do enjoy going out with my friends and playing a round of golf. Guess what? Golf courses are considered by the regulators to be parks and I will continue to smoke on them until my golfing days are over. Please note that if you do visit a Salt Lake City golf course, you will find ashtrays.
The root causes of the American Revolution were the restrictions and laws imposed on the colonists by England. The new Americans opposed taxation, restriction of location, corruption, excessive control, intolerable acts and regulations, plus an unjust criminal justice system. Of course, we are not now subject to restriction of location and we do have an excellent criminal justice system, but the other root causes of the American Revolution are in still in place.
Robert Pembroke is the former chairman and CEO of Pembroke’s Inc. in Salt Lake City. He can be reached at pembroke894@gmail.com.