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posted by janrinok on Sunday April 05 2015, @08:35AM   Printer-friendly
from the they'll-not-drink-to-that dept.

We covered the story about powdered alcohol when it was first announced, but it ran into problems. It was re-announced in mid March. Rachel Abrams reports at the NYT that six states have passed legislation to ban Palcohol, a freeze-dried, powdered alcohol developed by Mark Phillips who he says was inspired by a love of hiking but a distaste for carrying bottles of adult beverages uphill. "When I hike, kayak, backpack or whatever, I like to have a drink when I reach my destination. And carrying liquid alcohol and mixers to make a margarita for instance was totally impractical," says Phillips, who hopes to have Palcohol on store shelves by the summer. One packet of Palcohol equals one shot with each packet weighing 1 ounce and turning into liquid when mixed with 6 ounces of water. Phillips has vigorously defended his product, called Palcohol, saying it is no more dangerous than the liquid version sold in liquor stores and plans to release five flavors: vodka, rum, cosmopolitan, powderita (which is like a margarita) and lemon drop.

Critics are concerned people may try to snort the powder or mix it with alcohol to make it even stronger or spike a drink. "It's very easy to put a couple packets into a glass and have super-concentrated alcohol," says Frank Lovecchio. Amy George, a spokeswoman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said MADD did not typically take a stand on the dangers of specific alcohol products, but MADD is concerned about the colorful or playful packaging of such products that can sometimes appeal to children. Phillips dismisses concerns saying that they don't make sense if you think it through. "People unfortunately use alcohol irresponsibly. But I don't see any movement to ban liquid alcohol. You don't ban something because a few irresponsible people use it improperly," says Phillips. "They can snort black pepper. Do you ban black pepper?"

 
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 05 2015, @02:33PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 05 2015, @02:33PM (#166666)

    Granted, alcohol is a dangerous and addictive drug that has no medical use (not anymore I presume anyway—during the 30s there was medicinal alcohol) and thus should be schedule I imo. Oh wait, liquid alcohol prohibition didn't exactly work out well….

    Please help me understand how this is any different from swiping something from grandma's liquor cabinet.

    Or for that matter, swiping some of mommy's pain pills.

    Personally, I don't think I'd go for powdered whiskey. I can't imagine it wouldn't be like drinking Tang when what you really need is a nice refreshing glass of OJ (pulp included).

    I just don't understand how this is fundamentally different from any other scenario where a minor obtains a dangerous and addictive drug.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 05 2015, @02:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 05 2015, @02:39PM (#166667)

    Oh, I almost forgot to respond to the black pepper comparison. Same AC here, responding to myself.

    They've forgotten all about nutmeg. Granted, it's not a very nice high, and it lasts for way too long (72 hours). However, if these “teenagers” are really determined to get high, doesn't it behoove us to ban nutmeg?

    As for the packages being attractive to children… they do card for this stuff, don't they?