Nitrous oxide: sales.

All amendment markup (line numbers, strikethroughs, and insertion indicators) was removed and replaced with clean enrolled statutory text. The underlying policy language is substantively unchanged.

Procedural additions: 'Passed the Senate August 27, 2026,' 'Passed the Assembly August 24, 2026,' and a blank line for the Governor's receipt date and time.

Amendment history lines (dates of prior amendments in Senate and Assembly) and the list of coauthors were removed from the header, as is standard when a bill reaches enrolled status.

The legislative counsel's digest was reformatted and contains a minor clarification: the description of license suspension/revocation authority was reworded for clarity but reflects the same policy as the statutory text.

The bill now amends the Business and Professions Code (tobacco licensing law) in addition to the Health and Safety Code. New Sections 22980.7 and 22980.8 create a direct link between nitrous oxide violations and tobacco product licenses, meaning a business that sells cigarettes can lose its tobacco license for nitrous oxide offenses.

New Section 22980.7 prohibits any person engaged in selling cigarettes or tobacco products from possessing, storing, owning, or selling prohibited nitrous oxide at any site where tobacco is stored or sold. CDTFA is authorized to seize such products upon discovery.

New Section 22980.7 establishes escalating civil penalties for tobacco retailers who violate the nitrous oxide ban: first violation $1,000-$2,000; second violation within 5 years $2,000-$5,000 plus 5-10 day license suspension; third violation within 5 years $5,000-$10,000 plus license revocation. Penalties scale based on whether the aggregate retail value of seized nitrous oxide is under or over $200.

Section 119408(f)(1)(B) was changed from allowing a court to suspend a tobacco license after one prior conviction to requiring revocation of the tobacco license after two prior convictions. This makes the penalty more severe but requires an additional conviction before triggering.

New Section 22980.8 establishes procedures for court-ordered revocation of tobacco licenses due to nitrous oxide violations: CDTFA must revoke upon receiving court notification, the licensee gets only 10 days notice with appeal limited to correcting clerical errors, a $250 civil penalty is assessed per revoked license, and the business may reapply at the same location after 6 months.

Section 22980.5 (posting requirements for suspended or revoked tobacco licenses) now explicitly applies to retailers whose licenses were revoked by CDTFA pursuant to a court order under the nitrous oxide provisions, requiring 30-day posting at entrances and cash registers.

New Section 119408(h) exempts commercially manufactured, sealed finished food products intended for retail sale as food that contain nitrous oxide solely as a propellant for dispensing the food product. This clarifies that items like whipped cream in cans are not covered.

Sections 22973.1 and 22977.2 now deny retailer and distributor/wholesaler tobacco licenses if the applicant's prior license was revoked by a court order under the nitrous oxide provisions, in addition to existing grounds for denial.

New Section 119408(l) makes any person, distributor, or business found to have violated the nitrous oxide provisions liable for all reasonable costs incurred by a public agency in investigation, inspection, seizure, storage, transportation, handling, venting, abatement, disposal, or destruction of nitrous oxide products and related materials. Courts may order recovery of enforcement costs.

Section 119408(f)(2)(B) requires the court to notify CDTFA when issuing a revocation order for a tobacco license, including information about the license holder, license type, and location. Subdivision (f)(3) clarifies that 'business license' in the suspension provision does not include tobacco licenses or seller's permits.

Removed the court's authority to suspend licenses issued under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) as a penalty for repeat nitrous oxide violations. Only tobacco product licenses and seller's permits remain subject to suspension.

Added 'offer to sell' as an explicitly prohibited act in subdivisions (a), (b), (c), and (d), expanding the range of conduct that constitutes a violation beyond actual sales and distributions to include offers to sell.

Added Assembly Members Bonta, Davies, and Hadwick as coauthors, reflecting broader Assembly support for the bill.

Five new Assembly Member coauthors added: Addis, Caloza, Dixon, Irwin, and Lowenthal, joining existing coauthors Alanis and Rogers.

Senate amendment date updated from April 28, 2026 to May 18, 2026.

Formatting and indentation adjustments throughout the bill text; page numbers changed from 97 to 96. No substantive policy language was altered.

The bill no longer adds Section 381f to the Penal Code. All provisions are now consolidated into a single new Chapter 10 (Section 119408) in the Health and Safety Code, simplifying the legal structure.

New subsection (i) clarifies that references to sale, offer, distribution, advertisement, or provision include conduct occurring through the internet or any other electronic or digital means.

New subsection (j) states the section does not limit a city, county, or city and county from adopting or enforcing a local ordinance that further restricts nitrous oxide sales.

Subsection (d) on device sales now requires that the seller 'knowingly' sell or distribute a device and that the person 'knows, or reasonably should know' it allows inhalation of nitrous oxide. Previously there was no explicit knowledge requirement for this provision.

Courts may now issue 'either or both' license suspension orders instead of only 'either,' allowing a business to have multiple licenses suspended simultaneously for repeat violations.

A seller's permit issued by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (Revenue and Taxation Code Section 6067) is now explicitly listed as a license that can be suspended for repeat violations.

The exemption for products sold to licensed practitioners now includes 'veterinary' practitioners in addition to medical and dental practitioners, expanding the scope of exempted sales.

A new definition of 'distributor' is added: a person who sells a product to a retailer in violation of the section, or accepts an order for a product from a retailer in violation of the section.

Senator Weber Pierson is added as a coauthor and Assembly Member Rogers is added alongside Alanis. The bill title and digest were updated to reflect the removal of the Penal Code provision.

The bill was relocated from adding Section 381f to the Penal Code to adding Chapter 10 (Section 119408) to Part 15 of Division 104 of the Health and Safety Code, shifting it from a criminal law framework to a health and safety regulatory framework.

A new subdivision clarifies that references to sale, offer, distribution, advertisement, or provision include conduct occurring through the internet or any other electronic or digital means.

A new subdivision states that the section does not limit a city, county, or city and county's authority to adopt or enforce a local ordinance that further restricts nitrous oxide sales.

The prohibition on selling or distributing devices that allow nitrous oxide inhalation now requires the seller to know, or reasonably should know, that the device allows inhalation. The original version prohibited all such sales regardless of knowledge.

Business license suspension authority was expanded: it now explicitly covers licenses issued by the state, a city, a county, or a city and county, and additionally includes seller's permits issued by the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. The court may now issue either or both types of suspension orders rather than just one.

The exemption for products sold to licensed practitioners was expanded to include veterinary practitioners in addition to medical and dental practitioners.

A new definition of 'distributor' was added, covering a person who sells a product to a retailer in violation of the section or accepts an order from a retailer in violation of the section.