NEW YEAR BRINGS NEW LAWS

SACRAMENTO -- Set aside the aspirin and antacids. You could be
grappling today with a lot more than a food and drink overload.

New Year's Day is the kickoff for 842 new laws on when you earn
overtime, how many guns you can buy, when you can sue your HMO and,
perhaps, even whether it's illegal to buy acetone-free nail polish at
the corner store.

A new law aimed at Blue Nitro, the designer drug associated with date
rape and all-night raves, goes too far, said Steven Fowkes, executive
director of the Menlo Park-based Cognitive Enhancement Research
Institute, a think tank devoted to nutritional, herbal and
pharmaceutical treatments.

Under the law, it is a crime to make, own or sell any derivative of
gamma-butyrolactone, which is often marketed as a dietary supplement
that builds muscles, enhances sleep and even improves sexual
performance.

Although the bill is aimed at garage chemists who can juggle a few
isotopes to produce a legal chemical that packs a similar punch to the
illegal Blue Nitrate, Fowkes claims that it is so broadly written that
people who buy some nail polishes, skin lotions, Chinese food, rope,
synthetic clothing and water bottles could be charged with a crime.

State law enforcement officials promise not to arrest dime-store
shoppers buying cosmetics.

But, Fowkes said, that's not the point. ``Any drug defendant can
defend himself on the grounds that the law is over-broad,'' Fowkes
said. ``They can't selectively target this bill at just the `bad
element.' ''

Les Kleinberg in the Attorney General's Office said the problem can be
fixed in future bills. ``It won't be the first law we revisit,'' he
said.

Fewer questions surround other new laws such as those making major
changes in the health industry. Patients can now sue their health
maintenance organizations for denied treatment that results in death,
loss of limb or bodily function, or significant financial loss. HMOs
have to cover contraceptives, cancer screening, diabetes services and
hospice care. And the state will set up an independent appeals process
for patients with complaints about their HMOs and create a new
department to regulate them.

Weapons buying, selling

Gun aficionados can buy only one handgun a month and are banned from
making, selling or possessing military-style semiautomatic weapons and
ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Gun show promoters
and vendors now have to notify law enforcement about their shows, have
security plans and hold a minimum $1 million insurance policy.

Two other gun laws passed last session don't take effect this year. In
2001, cheap pistols known as ``Saturday night specials'' must be sold
with safety devices and must pass safety tests. And, in 2002, handguns
can't be sold unless they are equipped with trigger locks.

The standard workday is back. Employers must pay overtime after eight
hours of work a day, instead of 40 hours a week. Under another law,
parents can use half of their sick time to tend to ailing children.

Gays and lesbians now have more protections. Discrimination based on
sexual orientation in jobs and housing will be illegal. Another law
bars the harassment of students in public schools because of their
sexual orientation. And another sets up a domestic partnership
registry that gives hospital privileges to adults of the same sex who
live together as a couple. The state also will extend health benefits
to the partners of gay and lesbian workers.

Electric and other low-polluting vehicles can now use carpool lanes.
And gas stations must offer free air and water services to customers.

Additional recycling items

The state's recycling law now includes containers for water, sport
drinks, juice, ice tea and coffee. Shoppers will pay an additional 2.5
cents for containers smaller than 24 ounces and an additional nickel
for those larger than 24 ounces.

Animal owners, watch out. It's now a misdemeanor to willfully abandon
a domestic dog or cat. But a new law extends that misdemeanor to any
animal, making it a crime to flush the family goldfish down the
commode unless you're a rehab specialist releasing appropriate
California wildlife into the, um, wild.

It should be more affordable to find a four-legged companion. The
sales tax on animal adoption, spay and neuter fees has been scrapped.
The goal is to save some of the 600,000 adoptable dogs and cats killed
each year because they can't find homes.

There are hundreds more laws, from the mundane to the
obvious.

Want to sign up for dance class? Current law bans lesson contracts for
more than $3,750. Now there is no dollar limit, but those lessons
better start within six months and allow for financing that doesn't
exceed a year. The new law also provides for pro rata refunds, within
10 days, for lessons not received.

Sell bunk beds to busting-at-the-seams families? A new law states you
can't sell a bunk bed ``that is unsafe for any child using the bunk
bed.'' Figure that one out.

And those amusement parks with water log rides and roller coasters?
For the first time in state history, an inspection program with hefty
fines for violations will be provided at permanent parks, similar to
those already required at traveling carnivals and county fairs.

S.J. Airport car rentals

Some new laws are narrowly targeted. One requires car-rental companies
at San Jose International Airport to collect a fee of up to $10.15 per
rental car transaction to raise $155 million for the new car rental
facility and $120 million for a proposed transportation system. And
another, prompted by the death of firefighter Dan Gadwah of Pacifica,
no longer forces a firefighter or peace officer stricken by cancer to
prove a reasonable link to job duties before collecting worker's
compensation benefits.