Drink Spiking and California RBS Training: What AB 2402 Requires by 2027

California RBS courses must teach drink spiking prevention and response by January 1, 2027. Here is what AB 2402 and ABC's new regulations require, and how bars and nightclubs can prepare staff before the deadline.

Updated November 8, 2026. Requirements and sources were reviewed as of this update. This article is general information, not legal advice.

What changed, in plain terms

In 2024, California lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 2402, a short bill with a specific goal: make sure every Responsible Beverage Service (RBS) course in the state teaches servers how to prevent drink spiking and how to respond when someone believes they have been drugged. According to ABC’s rulemaking notice, the Legislature passed AB 2402 on August 27, 2024, and Governor Newsom signed it on September 28, 2024. ABC describes it as the first bill to require alcohol servers to be trained on preventing and mitigating the effects of drink spiking.

The bill amended Business and Professions Code section 25681, the part of the RBS Training Program Act that governs course content. Under the new subdivision (f), RBS training courses must, on or before January 1, 2027, include best practices on how to prevent or protect a person from drink spiking and best practices for what to do if a person believes they, or someone they know, have been drugged as a result of drink spiking.

The law also defines the term. “Drink spiking” means putting alcohol or drugs into another person’s drink without their knowing and express consent, also known as roofying. That definition matters, because it covers more than illegal drugs. Adding extra alcohol to someone’s drink without their knowledge also fits.

Who has to do what, and by when

It helps to separate the responsibilities, because the deadline is aimed mostly at training providers rather than individual servers.

Training providers must update their ABC-approved curricula. ABC’s April 2026 program update says curriculum updates must be fully completed and approved no later than January 1, 2027, and it asked providers to submit their updates by June 30, 2026, to avoid review delays. ABC also says there is no fee for submitting the regulated update.
Servers and managers will encounter the new material the next time they take an approved RBS course, whether for first-time certification or renewal. ABC’s published updates do not describe any change to the three-year certification period or the exam process for servers.
Licensees are responsible for making sure their staff hold valid certifications, as before, and many will want to align house policies with what the new training teaches.

In other words, a certified bartender does not need to rush out and retake a course before January 1, 2027 solely because of AB 2402. The new content arrives through the normal certification and renewal cycle.

Bar manager leading a pre-shift huddle with three staff members on a sunny outdoor patio under a blue sky.

What the new regulations require courses to cover

ABC turned the statute into specific curriculum rules by adding sections 165.1 and 165.2 to its RBS regulations in Title 4 of the California Code of Regulations. The text of the approved regulations is worth reading in full, and it is short. Here is a summary.

Prevention (section 165.1)

Courses must teach methods of creating a safe environment, including:

Staff observing patrons and reporting behavior that suggests drink spiking to managers.
Knowing and enforcing capacity limits, and creating a crowd control plan for the premises.
Establishing policies or procedures to prevent spiking of drinks served, including drink lids on request at Type 48 premises, testing kit policies and staff training on how to use and read the kits in use, and policies on handling unattended drinks.

Courses must also teach how to recognize possible spiking. The regulation lists signs such as a person appearing intoxicated after drinking little or no alcohol, complaints about the strength of drinks, dizziness or nausea, sudden loss of bladder or bowel control, and sudden changes in body temperature.

Response (section 165.2)

Courses must teach methods of responding when a person believes they, or someone they know, have been drugged. The regulation lists these steps, among others:

Bring the person somewhere safe and always keep a staff member with them.
Call emergency services.
Keep talking to the person to reassure them.
Attempt to locate the alleged perpetrator and keep eyes on them.
If possible, preserve the drink in question for testing.

The regulation also calls for a policy to train employees to identify common responses to trauma. That last point is easy to overlook, but it shapes how staff speak to someone who may be frightened, confused, or embarrassed.

How AB 2402 fits with other drink-spiking laws

AB 2402 is part of a group of recent California laws on the topic. The current Business and Professions Code, as shown on the Legislature’s official code website, includes several related sections that apply to on-sale general public premises, known as Type 48 licenses, which are typically bars and nightclubs:

Section 25624 requires Type 48 licensees to offer drug testing devices for sale at a reasonable price and to post a prescribed notice. It became operative July 1, 2024.
Section 25625 requires Type 48 licensees to provide a drink lid on request and post the same notice. It became operative July 1, 2025, and a first sole violation results only in a warning.
Section 25624.5, added by AB 2389, requires Type 48 licensees to contact law enforcement or emergency medical services when notified that a customer may have been spiked, and to follow their instructions and monitor the customer until help arrives.

One detail deserves attention. Sections 25624 and 25625 were originally written to be repealed on January 1, 2027. Assembly Bill 1982 (Lowenthal, Chapter 377, Statutes of 2026), signed by the Governor in September 2026, removes that sunset date from both sections. ABC’s October 9, 2026 industry advisory says Type 48 licensees must continue complying with both sections and that the rules will not self-repeal. The kit, lid and notice requirements are in force today and continue past the new year, so operators should not plan to drop them. Section 25624.5 and section 25681 never carried that end date. Alongside those mandates, the training content in section 165.1 still asks courses to teach lid and testing-kit policies where they are in use.

Working with responders and preserving evidence

Two of the response steps in section 165.2, locating the alleged perpetrator and preserving the drink, can be the hardest to carry out on a busy night. The safest approach is observation, not confrontation. Staff should note what they saw, keep the person in view if it is safe to do so, and pass the information to police or medical responders when they arrive. A drink that may have been tampered with can be set aside, covered, and kept out of service until responders decide what to do with it. Writing down the time, the location in the venue, and who handled the glass helps responders later.

Staff member kneeling beside a seated guest in a lit nightclub hallway, offering water while a coworker makes a phone call.

Turning the training into house policy

Training is most useful when the workplace backs it up. Managers do not need to wait for the new courses to put practical steps in place. Drawing directly on the prevention and response topics in ABC’s regulations, a venue might:

Write a one-page response plan. List who calls emergency services, who stays with the guest, where a quiet, safe space is, and how to set aside a drink for testing.
Assign clear roles during busy shifts. Make sure security, bartenders, and floor staff know who to alert when something looks wrong.
Review capacity and crowd plans. Overcrowding makes it harder to watch drinks and spot someone in distress.
Set an unattended-drink policy. Decide how staff handle drinks left on tables or the bar, and explain it consistently to guests.
Practice the language. A calm, believing tone matters. The trauma-awareness item in section 165.2 exists because how staff respond can affect whether a guest gets help.

These steps also support other duties that already apply. California law has long prohibited serving obviously intoxicated people, and a guest who suddenly appears very impaired after little alcohol is a reason to pause, check in, and get help rather than simply cut them off and send them out the door alone.

What this means for workers

Bartenders, servers, and security staff are the people most likely to notice when something is wrong. The new requirements formalize what many experienced hospitality workers already try to do, but they also put more responsibility on frontline staff. Employers can support them by making the response plan simple, by not penalizing staff for calling for help, and by making sure every shift has someone who knows the plan.

Workers with questions about training time, pay, or workplace safety on the job can contact the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, which handles wage and hour questions. Workers covered by a union contract may also have protections or procedures set out in that agreement.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to retake RBS training before January 1, 2027 because of AB 2402? ABC’s published updates do not say that. The requirement applies to course content. Servers will see the new material when they next take an approved course.

Does the law apply only to bars? The training requirement in section 25681 applies to all RBS training courses, which serve on-premises alcohol servers at restaurants, bars, tasting rooms, hotels, venues, and other on-sale locations. The lid, test-kit, and reporting sections discussed above apply specifically to Type 48 licensees.

Is adding extra alcohol to a drink covered? Yes. The statutory definition includes putting alcohol or drugs into another person’s drink without their knowing and express consent.

What should staff do first if a guest says they think they were drugged? Under the response topics listed in section 165.2, staff should get the person somewhere safe, keep someone with them, and call emergency services. Follow any instructions from responders.

Where can I read the official rules? ABC posts the approved regulation text and rulemaking documents on its website, and the Legislature publishes the current statute. Both are linked in the source list below.

For floor-level response steps, see our guide, When a Guest Says They May Have Been Drugged: A Step-by-Step Support Guide for California Venues, which covers warning signs and the duty to call for help.

The bottom line

AB 2402 is a practical change, not a crisis. By January 1, 2027, every approved RBS course in California must teach how to prevent drink spiking and how to respond when it may have happened. ABC’s regulations spell out the topics: safer environments, recognizing warning signs, caring for the person affected, calling for help, and preserving evidence when possible. Venues that build a simple plan now will be ready when staff bring those lessons back from training, and guests will benefit from a team that knows what to do.

Get your team trained

ServeTrain offers online RBS training that staff can complete on their own schedule. Before enrolling, register or log in to your RBS Portal account with ABC and confirm your chosen course appears in the portal’s training provider search.

Sources

This article is general information, not legal advice.