CHAPTER 1. General Provisions and Definitions [11000. - 11033.]

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC 1.
in effect

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11002. Section 11002.

“Administer” means the direct application of a controlled substance, whether by injection, inhalation, ingestion, or any other means, to the body of a patient for his immediate needs or to the body of a research subject by any of the following: (a) A practitioner or, in his presence, by his authorized agent. (b) The patient or research subject at the direction and in the presence of the practitioner.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11003. Section 11003.

“Agent” means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or at the direction of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser. It does not include a common or contract carrier, public warehouseman, or employee of the carrier or warehouseman.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11006.5. Section 11006.5.

(a) Before January 1, 2026, “concentrated cannabis” means the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from cannabis. (b) Beginning on January 1, 2026, and until January 1, 2028, “concentrated cannabis” or “cannabis concentrate” means cannabis that has undergone a process to concentrate one or more active cannabinoids, thereby increasing potency, and includes extracts, oils, hash, dab, shatter, rosin, wax, and the separated resin, whether crude or purified. (c) Beginning on January 1, 2028, the following apply: (1) “Concentrated cannabis” or “cannabis concentrate” means cannabis or industrial hemp that has undergone a process to concentrate one or more active cannabinoids, thereby increasing potency, and includes extracts, oils, hash, dab, shatter, rosin, wax, and the separated resin, whether crude or purified. (2) “Cannabis concentrate” does not include CBD isolate, as defined in Section 26001 of the Business and Professions Code.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11007. Section 11007.

“Controlled substance,” unless otherwise specified, means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor which is listed in any schedule in Section 11054, 11055, 11056, 11057, or 11058.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11008. Section 11008.

“Customs broker” means a person in this state who is authorized to act as a broker for any of the following: (a) A person in this state who is licensed to sell, distribute, or otherwise possess any controlled substance. (b) A person in any other state who ships any controlled substance into this state. (c) A person in this state or any other state who ships or transfers any controlled substance through this state.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11009. Section 11009.

“Deliver” or “delivery” means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer from one person to another of a controlled substance, whether or not there is an agency relationship.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11010. Section 11010.

“Dispense” means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or pursuant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing, furnishing, packaging, labeling, or compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11013. Section 11013.

“Distributor” means a person who distributes. The term distributor also includes warehousemen handling or storing controlled substances and customs brokers.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11014. Section 11014.

“Drug” means (a) substances recognized as drugs in the official United States Pharmacopoeia, official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, or official National Formulary, or any supplement to any of them; (b) substances intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or animals; (c) substances (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or animals; and (d) substances intended for use as a component of any article specified in subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of this section. It does not include devices or their components, parts, or accessories.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11014.5. Section 11014.5.

(a) “Drug paraphernalia” means all equipment, products, and materials of any kind that are designed for use or marketed for use, in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance in violation of this division. It includes, but is not limited to: (1) Kits designed for use or marketed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, or harvesting of any species of plant that is a controlled substance or from which a controlled substance can be derived. (2) Kits designed for use or marketed for use in manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, or preparing controlled substances. (3) Isomerization devices designed for use or marketed for use in increasing the potency of any species of plant that is a controlled substance. (4) Scales and balances designed for use or marketed for use in weighing or measuring controlled substances. (5) Containers and other objects designed for use or marketed for use in storing or concealing controlled substances. (6) Hypodermic syringes, needles, and other objects designed for use or marketed for use in parenterally injecting controlled substances into the human body. (7) Objects designed for use or marketed for use in ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing cannabis, cocaine, hashish, or hashish oil into the human body, such as: (A) Carburetion tubes and devices. (B) Smoking and carburetion masks. (C) Roach clips, meaning objects used to hold burning material, such as a cannabis cigarette, that has become too small or too short to be held in the hand. (D) Miniature cocaine spoons, and cocaine vials. (E) Chamber pipes. (F) Carburetor pipes. (G) Electric pipes. (H) Air-driven pipes. (I) Chillums. (J) Bongs. (K) Ice pipes or chillers. (8) Testing equipment designed for use or marketed for use in identifying, or in analyzing the strength, effectiveness, or purity of, controlled substances, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (d). (b) For the purposes of this section, the phrase “marketed for use” means advertising, distributing, offering for sale, displaying for sale, or selling in a manner that promotes the use of equipment, products, or materials with controlled substances. (c) In determining whether an object is drug paraphernalia, a court or other authority may consider, in addition to all other logically relevant factors, the following: (1) Statements by an owner or by anyone in control of the object concerning its use. (2) Instructions, oral or written, provided with the object concerning its use for ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing a controlled substance into the human body. (3) Descriptive materials accompanying the object that explain or depict its use. (4) National and local advertising concerning its use. (5) The manner in which the object is displayed for sale. (6) Whether the owner or anyone in control of the object is a legitimate supplier of like or related items to the community, such as a licensed distributor or dealer of tobacco products. (7) Expert testimony concerning its use. (d) Notwithstanding paragraph (8) of subdivision (a), “drug paraphernalia” does not include any testing equipment designed, marketed, intended to be used, or used, to test a substance for the presence of contaminants, toxic substances, hazardous compounds, or other adulterants, or controlled substances that include, without limitation, fentanyl, ketamine, gamma hydroxybutyric acid, or any analog of fentanyl. (e) If any provision of this section or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, it is the intent of the Legislature that the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the section that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and to this end the provisions of this section are severable.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11018. Section 11018.

“Cannabis” means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa Linnaeus, Cannabis indica, or Cannabis ruderalis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin from glandular trichomes or extracted from any part of the plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds or resin. It does not include either of the following: (a) Industrial hemp, as defined in Section 11018.5. (b) The weight of any other ingredient combined with cannabis to prepare topical or oral administrations, food, drink, or other product.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11018.1. Section 11018.1.

(a) “Cannabis products” means a product containing cannabis or cannabis concentrate and includes, but is not limited to, edible, topical, and inhaled products, and products intended for use on, or consumption by, an animal. (b) It shall be presumed that a product intended for human or animal consumption that contains or purports to contain any tetrahydrocannabinol is a cannabis product, regardless of the nature or source of the cannabinoids. This presumption may be rebutted by evidence showing that the product complies with Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 111920) of Part 5 of Division 104 and any regulations promulgated pursuant to that chapter.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11018.2. Section 11018.2.

“Cannabis accessories” means any equipment, products or materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, smoking, vaporizing, or containing cannabis, or for ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing cannabis or cannabis products into the human body.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11018.5. Section 11018.5.

(a) (1) “Industrial hemp” or “hemp” means types of the plant Cannabis sativa Linnaeus or any part of that plant with a total tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of no more than 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis and is limited to only agricultural products, including seeds, propagated plant material, immature or mature plants, harvested plants, mature stalks of the plant, fiber produced from the stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of the plant, or any preparation that does not contain cannabinoids. (2) Total tetrahydrocannabinol concentration includes both delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, and shall be calculated using the following equation: Total THC concentration (mg/g) +/- the measurement of uncertainty, as defined by the Department of Food and Agriculture. (b) Industrial hemp shall not be subject to the provisions of this division or of Division 10 (commencing with Section 26000) of the Business and Professions Code, except upon entry into the California licensed market under that division, and shall be regulated by the Department of Food and Agriculture in accordance with the provisions of Division 24 (commencing with Section 81000) of the Food and Agricultural Code, inclusive. (c) The sale or delivery of hemp flower and hemp prerolls within the state is prohibited.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11019. Section 11019.

“Narcotic drug” means any of the following, whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of extraction and chemical synthesis: (a) Opium and opiate, and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium or opiate. (b) Any salt, compound, isomer, or derivative, whether natural or synthetic, of the substances referred to in subdivision (a), but not including the isoquinoline alkaloids of opium. (c) Opium poppy and poppy straw. (d) Coca leaves and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of coca leaves, but not including decocainized coca leaves or extractions of coca leaves which do not contain cocaine or ecgonine. (e) Cocaine, whether natural or synthetic, or any salt, isomer, derivative, or preparation thereof. (f) Ecgonine, whether natural or synthetic, or any salt, isomer, derivative, or preparation thereof. (g) Acetylfentanyl, the thiophene analog thereof, derivatives of either, and any salt, compound, isomer, or preparation of acetylfentanyl or the thiophene analog thereof.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11020. Section 11020.

“Opiate” means any substance having an addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability similar to morphine or being capable of conversion into a drug having addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability. It does not include, unless specifically designated as controlled under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 11053) of this division, the dextrorotatory isomer of 3-methoxy-n-methylmorphinan and its salts (dextromethorphan). It does include its racemic and levorotatory forms.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11022. Section 11022.

“Person” means individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, or association, or any other legal entity.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11024. Section 11024.

“Physician,” “dentist,” “podiatrist,” “pharmacist,” “veterinarian,” and “optometrist” means persons who are licensed to practice their respective professions in this state.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11026. Section 11026.

“Practitioner” means any of the following: (a) A physician, dentist, veterinarian, podiatrist, or pharmacist acting within the scope of a project authorized under Article 1 (commencing with Section 128125) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 107, a registered nurse acting within the scope of a project authorized under Article 1 (commencing with Section 128125) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 107, a certified nurse-midwife acting within the scope of Section 2746.51 of the Business and Professions Code, a nurse practitioner acting within the scope of Section 2836.1 of the Business and Professions Code, or a physician assistant acting within the scope of a project authorized under Article 1 (commencing with Section 128125) of Chapter 3 of Part 3 of Division 107 or Section 3502.1 of the Business and Professions Code, or an optometrist acting within the scope of Section 3041 of the Business and Professions Code. (b) A pharmacy, hospital, or other institution licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or to administer, a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this state. (c) A scientific investigator, or other person licensed, registered, or otherwise permitted, to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or administer, a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this state.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11027. Section 11027.

(a) “Prescription” means an oral order or electronic transmission prescription for a controlled substance given individually for the person(s) for whom prescribed, directly from the prescriber to the furnisher or indirectly by means of a written order of the prescriber. (b) “Electronic transmission prescription” includes both image and data prescriptions. “Electronic image transmission prescription” is any prescription order for which a facsimile of the order is received by a pharmacy from a licensed prescriber. “Electronic data transmission prescription” is any prescription order, other than an electronic image transmission prescription, which is electronically transmitted from a licensed prescriber to a pharmacy.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11030. Section 11030.

“Ultimate user” means a person who lawfully possesses a controlled substance for his own use or for the use of a member of his household or for administering to an animal owned by him or by a member of his household.

Cal. Health and Safety Code - HSC § 11032. Section 11032.

If reference is made to the term “narcotics” in any law not in this division, unless otherwise expressly provided, it means those controlled substances classified in Schedules I and II, as defined in this division. If reference is made to “restricted dangerous drugs” not in this division, unless otherwise expressly provided, it means those controlled substances classified in Schedules III and IV. If reference is made to the term “marijuana” in any law not in this division, unless otherwise expressly provided, it means cannabis as defined in this division.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026

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