Thursday, January 18, 2007

How to gut California Prop 65

Prop 65 is the law responsible for the endless stream of warnings on virtually everything that state: "This product contains a chemical known by the state of California to cause cancer." I once saw this warning on the label of bottled spring water.

Apparently, Prop 65 contains a "bounty hunter" provision where citizens can get 25% of any fines levied, actively encouraging lawsuits in pursuit of the prize. This is of course a terrible idea because it encourages people to make shit up.

Since you apparently can't warn people too much I propose that all manufacturers everywhere include this warning on every product they make. Everyone wins this way (including label printers)! Everyone gets adequate warning, manufacturers don't have to worry about lawsuits, and the state of California can save it's research budget because everything has already declared itself to be bad for you.