a)), possession of an open container of alcohol in a public park (§ 25620), and bringing an alcoholic beverage into a state prison or county jail (§ 25603). This court has itself recognized that a violation of section 25658 (providing an alcoholic beverage to someone under 21 years old) can be committed by a private person. (In re Jennings (2004) 34 Cal.4th 254 [17 Cal.Rptr.3d 645, 95 P.3d 906].) In addition, chapter 6 of the ABC Act, entitled “Issuance and Transfer of Licenses” (§§ 23950-24082), includes several provisions addressed to the noncommercial purveying of alcoholic beverages, such as section 24045.1 (temporary daily license available for events staged by political, charitable or religious organizations), section 24045.2 (temporary off-sale license available for nonprofit public television stations) and section 24045.3 (temporary off-sale licenses available for certain women’s educational and charitable organizations). The inclusion in the Business and Professions Code of so many statutes addressed to the noncommercial provision of alcoholic beverages further supports the conclusion that section 25602.1 is not, by virtue of its placement in that code, limited to commercial enterprises only.
Finally, although we reject the suggestion that the scope of the Business and Professions Code, and thus section 25602.1, is confined to commercial, profit-generating endeavors, we note that even were we to find to the contrary, and that all private, noncommercial social-host scenarios should be governed exclusively under the provisions of Civil Code section 1714, that argument would merely beg the question of when, and under what conditions, an ostensible social host (such as defendant Manosa) loses that characterization — and thus becomes a commercial entity falling within the jurisdiction of 713*713 the Business and Professions Code — by selling alcoholic beverages. Accordingly, merely attaching to Manosa the label of “social host” does not advance the analysis, for what would we call a social host who sells alcoholic beverages? We thus turn to an examination of whether Manosa sold alcoholic beverages within the meaning of section 25602.1.
2. Did Manosa Sell Alcoholic Beverages?
(8) At the threshold, we find two principles provide potential guidance, but, as is sometimes the case, those principles point in somewhat opposite directions. First, the state Constitution grants exclusive power to the State of California to regulate the sale of alcoholic beverages (Cal. Const., art. XX, § 22, 1st par.), the Legislature has exercised that power by the enactment of the ABC Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 23000 et seq.), and the act expressly provides that its terms should be “liberally construed” to accomplish the stated purposes of the act, which include “to eliminate the evils of unlicensed… selling, and disposing of alcoholic beverages, and to promote temperance in the use and consumption of alcoholic beverages” (§ 23001, italics added). Giving the law a liberal construction that leans in favor of promoting temperance suggests that, in a close case, we should err on the side of permitting liability, for the possibility of liability may provide a strong deterrent against the provision of alcohol to minors, especially those who are already obviously intoxicated.
But at the same time, because the general rule of law is one of civil immunity for the sale or provision of alcoholic beverages (§ 25602, subd. (b); 714*714 Civ. Code, § 1714, subd. (c)), section 25602.1 represents an exception to that general rule and therefore should be strictly construed to achieve the Legislature’s intent. (Hernandez v. Modesto Portuguese Pentecost Assn. (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 1274, 1281 [48 Cal.Rptr.2d 229] [§ 25602.1 should be strictly construed]; Salem v. Superior Court(1989) 211 Cal.App.3d 595, 600 [259 Cal.Rptr. 447] [same].) Giving section 25602.1 a strict construction suggests that, in a close case, we should lean towards finding a wide scope of civil immunity. Cognizant of both these concepts, we turn to the language of the ABC Act to discern the meaning of a “sale” of alcohol.
(9) The ABC Act is division 9 of the Business and Professions Code, beginning with section 23000. The preliminary provisions of the ABC Act set forth basic definitions for the act, which “govern the construction of this division” “[u]nless the context otherwise requires.” (§ 23002.) Section 23025 defines the terms “sell,” “sale,” and “to sell” as including “any transaction whereby, for any consideration, title to alcoholic beverages is transferred from one person to another.” (Italics added.) Because sections 25602 and 25602.1 also appear in the ABC Act, section 23025’s definition of “sale” applies to those sections. We thus agree with the Department of ABC that the definition of a sale of alcoholic beverages in section 23025 applies to section 25602.1.
Nor is it difficult to discern when title to a drink passed to Garcia. Although his payment of the admission fee did not entitle him to, say, take possession of all the alcohol at the party, nor did he at that time necessarily take title to any particular drink, when Garcia did pour himself a drink and begin to consume it, title to that drink clearly passed to him. We conclude the plain meaning of a “sale,” as defined in section 23025 and used in section 25602.1, includes Garcia’s payment of the entrance fee for Manosa’s party, irrespective of the fact possession of a particular drink did not occur immediately upon payment.
(11) Defendant further argues the statutory definition of “sale” in section 23025 is ambiguous because in other contexts the Legislature has specifically provided that a sale includes both direct and indirect sales. She cites two examples from the code: Section 24070, subdivision (c) restricts a corporate licensee from selling “a controlling interest in the stock ownership of the licensee” either “directly or indirectly,… for a period of two years from date of issuance of the license….” (Italics added.) Similarly, section 25511 provides in part that a beer manufacturer or beer wholesaler “may … sell, directly or indirectly, any equipment, fixtures, or supplies, other than alcoholic beverages, to a retailer whose equipment, fixtures, or supplies were lost or damaged as a result of a natural disaster.” (Italics added.) Neither statute is relevant to the issue before us. Section 24070, subdivision (c) addresses the sale of stock ownership, not alcoholic beverages. Section 25511 addresses the sale of “equipment, fixtures, or supplies, other than alcoholic beverages.” (Italics added.) By contrast, section 23025 defines the terms “sell,” “sale” and “to sell” in the specific context of the conveyance of alcoholic beverages, and the Legislature’s use of the term “any” to modify the nouns “transaction” and “consideration” is another way of including indirect sales within the scope of the definition. Accordingly, the use of the phrase “directly or indirectly” in sections 24070 and 25511 does not render ambiguous section 23025’s expansive definition of a sale of alcoholic beverages.
Our conclusion that the pleaded facts suggest a sale occurred within the meaning of section 25602.1 is consistent with an opinion prepared by the Office of the Attorney General.[14] (See 68 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 263 (1985) (AG Opinion).) The director of the Department of ABC, who is charged with enforcing the ABC Act (see § 23050 et seq.), had asked this question of the Office of the Attorney General: “May the operator of a commercial enterprise who does not have an alcoholic beverage license legally offer and provide `complimentary’ alcoholic beverages to any interested adult guest, customer or passenger of the business or service, without specific charge while at the same time charging for the product provided or the services rendered?” (AG Opinion, supra, 263.) Focusing its inquiry on whether the complimentary beverages were in fact free, and not whether, strictly speaking, title to a particular drink had passed from seller to buyer, the Attorney General concluded that offering a complimentary drink, while at the same time charging for another related service or product, constituted a sale under section 23025. (AG Opinion,supra, 263.) While the AG Opinion concerned an “operator of a commercial enterprise” and not an ostensible social host, the Attorney General’s reasoning is pertinent here because he framed the issue as “whether the `complimentary’ beverages are in fact `free’ or whether they are 717*717 in reality purveyed for a `consideration.'” (Id. at p. 265.) In other words, did a sale of alcoholic beverages occur?
Observing that no California cases on the subject existed, the Attorney General examined three out-of-state cases. In New York State Liquor Authority v. Fuffy’s Pancake House, Ltd. (N.Y.App.Div. 1978) 65 A.D.2d 556 [409 N.Y.S.2d 20], a restaurant provided complimentary glasses of wine when a patron paid for a meal. InNew York State Liquor Authority v. Sutton Social Club (N.Y.Sup.Ct. 1978) 93 Misc.2d 1024 [403 N.Y.S.2d 443], a social club charged its members and their guests a fee that entitled them to enter the club and to obtain “free” alcoholic beverages. Finally, in Commonwealth v. Worcestrr (1879) 126 Mass. 256, the Supreme Judicial Court of