This division is an exercise of the police powers of the State for the protection of the safety, welfare, health, peace, and morals of the people of the State, to eliminate the evils of unlicensed and unlawful manufacture, selling, and disposing of alcoholic beverages, and to promote temperance in the use and consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is hereby declared that the subject matter of this division involves in the highest degree the economic, social, and moral well-being and the safety of the State and of all its people. All provisions of this division shall be liberally construed for the accomplishment of these purposes.
Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 23001
General Provisions and Definitions
Known as the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act
The act spans §§ 23000–25762 (737 sections).
Applied in 12 court decisions — leading case 65 Cal. 2d 349 - Wilke & Holzheiser, Inc. v. Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (1966)
Most recently applied in 235 Cal. App. 4th 385 - Lewis v. Safeway, Inc. (March 2015)
Added by Stats. 1953, Ch. 152.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.