SOAKERS, TOKERS SOCKED BY VETOES

So California, So Not Happening

SACRAMENTO - Talk about a buzz kill.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took aim Tuesday at proposals affecting
Californians who soak at a Northern California hot springs resort and who
smoke marijuana to ease their pain.

Amid the increasingly testy budget stalemate, the Republican governor
vetoed two distinctly Californian bills crafted by the uniquely Californian
state Sen. John Vasconcellos.

One measure would have exempted the rustic 139-year-old Wilbur Hot Springs
retreat from state laws that treat its 112-degree mineral baths as swimming
pools requiring chlorination.

Schwarzenegger wasn't feeling the vibe.

The exemption, he said, "would put those who use the pool, as well as the
general public, at risk."

That left Dr. Richard Miller, owner of the hot springs, "beside myself" and
worried that he might have to close his doors.

"Why destroy a natural phenomenon that's been healing people for 139 years
without one negative health event?" said Miller, whose resort, east of
Clear Lake, plays John Lennon's "Imagine" for callers on hold.

The governor also rejected a second Vasconcellos bill meant to clarify
California's pioneering medicinal-marijuana laws by allowing users to grow
at least six pot plants and keep at least eight ounces without facing the
arrest.

Schwarzenegger essentially told the 72-year-old Santa Clara Democrat he'd
gone one toke over the line.

"Enactment of the bill would create uncertainty in this area of the law,
thereby making it more difficult for law enforcement to determine when a
person was in possession of marijuana for medicinal purposes," wrote the
former Hollywood star in his veto message.

Someone get Cheech and Chong on the line.