California’s Responsible Beverage Service training is getting new required content, and the deadline is now inside 16 months. Under Assembly Bill 2402 (Lowenthal, 2024), every ABC-approved RBS course must cover drink spiking by January 1, 2027.
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control laid out the mechanics in its April 2026 RBS program update. ABC has adopted the implementing regulations at California Code of Regulations sections 165.1 and 165.2, and every approved RBS training provider must revise its curriculum and have that revision approved no later than January 1, 2027. ABC asked providers to submit updated curriculum by June 30, 2026 to avoid a review backlog, and it is not charging a fee for the regulation-driven portion of the update.
What AB 2402 adds to the curriculum is twofold: best practices for preventing or protecting a person from drink spiking, and best practices for what to do when someone believes they or a person with them has been drugged. That widens the job description the course trains for. Alongside spotting over-service and fake IDs, servers and managers are now being trained to recognize and respond to a patron being drugged on the premises.
before acting.
For servers, nothing about your existing certification changes. An RBS certificate you already hold remains valid for its full three years. What changes is the material you will see the next time you certify or recertify after your provider’s updated course goes live.
For operators, there is one question worth putting to your training vendor now: has your RBS curriculum been resubmitted and approved under the new regulations, and when does the updated course become available to our staff? Providers that have not cleared approval by January 1, 2027 will not be in compliance with state law, and that is a supply problem worth knowing about before your next onboarding wave.
Servers and managers who are due to certify or recertify can enroll in California RBS certification training and sit the ABC exam.
Source: California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, RBS Program Update, April 2026
This post is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Alcohol-service laws change frequently and vary by state and locality. Always confirm current requirements with your state’s alcohol regulatory authority or a qualified professional
