California Nightlife Venues Must Offer Drink Lids and Drug Test Kits Under New Law
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation ensuring that bars and nightclubs across the state will be permanently required to give patrons access to drink lids and drug-testing kits, removing an expiration date that had loomed over two earlier laws addressing drink spiking.The new measure, Assembly Bill 1982, was introduced by Josh Lowenthal, a Long Beach Assemblymember and former nightclub owner who has spent the past two years pushing a string of bills meant to curb drink-spiking at venues that serve alcohol.
Rather than create new obligations, AB 1982 eliminates the sunset clauses attached to two of his previous bills, AB 1013 and AB 2375, so their requirements do not lapse.Those earlier laws required California’s Type 48 license holders, mostly bars and nightclubs, to post warning signs, keep drug-testing devices on hand and provide drink lids to customers who ask for them.
Business owners who fail to comply can face fines or the suspension of their liquor licenses.Lowenthal, a former owner of the Long Beach nightclub Sachi, has said that drink-spiking is especially hard to track because the substances involved are difficult to detect and quick to leave the body.
In earlier remarks about his legislative push, he said the drugs typically cannot be seen, tasted or smelled, and that they clear the system within about a day, making it nearly impossible for investigators to confirm a case even when a victim reports one.That evidentiary gap, he has argued, is part of why prevention tools like lids and test kits matter so much.
Firm data on how often drinks are spiked in California remains scarce, in part because of the same detection problems Lowenthal has cited.“The effects of a spiked drink can’t be reversed once it’s been consumed,” Lowenthal said in a statement.
“Especially when many of the common drugs being used to perpetrate this crime can impact a victim’s memory.Californians deserve to be safe when they are enj...