Cal. BPC § 4836.1

This is the official text of Cal. BPC § 4836.1, part of California’s Business and Professions Code — regulates business practices and professional/occupational licensing - contractors, doctors, cosmetologists, real estate agents, and dozens of other licensed professions.

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Official statutory text

(a) Notwithstanding any other law, a registered veterinary technician or a veterinary assistant may administer a drug, including, but not limited to, a drug that is a controlled substance, under the direct or indirect supervision of a licensed veterinarian when done pursuant to the order, control, and full professional responsibility of a licensed veterinarian. However, no person, other than a licensed veterinarian, may induce anesthesia unless authorized by regulation of the California Veterinary Medical Board.

(b) A veterinary assistant may obtain or administer a controlled substance pursuant to the order, control, and full professional responsibility of a licensed veterinarian, only if they meet both of the following conditions:

(1) Is designated by a licensed veterinarian to obtain or administer controlled substances.

(2) Holds a valid veterinary assistant controlled substance permit issued pursuant to Section 4836.2.

(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), if the California Veterinary Medical Board, in consultation with the California State Board of Pharmacy, identifies a dangerous drug, as defined in Section 4022, as a drug that has an established pattern of being diverted, the California Veterinary Medical Board may restrict access to that drug by veterinary assistants.

(d) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(1) “Controlled substance” has the same meaning as that term is defined in Section 11007 of the Health and Safety Code.

(2) “Direct supervision” has the same meaning as that term is defined in subdivision (e) of Section 2034 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations.

(3) “Drug” has the same meaning as that term is defined in Section 11014 of the Health and Safety Code.

(4) “Indirect supervision” has the same meaning as that term is defined in subdivision (f) of Section 2034 of Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations.

(e) This section shall become operative on the date Section 4836.2 becomes operative.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.