Schumer moves to ban powdered alcohol

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has introduced legislation to make the production, sale and possession of powdered alcohol illegal.

Earlier this week, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) approved the federal labels for Palcohol, a powdered alcohol made by the company Lipsmark LLC that can be mixed with water and sprinkled onto food. 

{mosads}Lipsmark said Palcohol, which can now legally be sold in U.S. stores, will hopefully be available this summer.

“We will be working on getting the production facility up and running,” the company said on its website. 

But Schumer wants to keep Palcohol from ever hitting store shelves. Since it’s easy to conceal and can be snorted, he said, it creates an immense danger to teenagers.

“I am in total disbelief that our federal government has approved such an obviously dangerous product, and so, Congress must take matters into its own hands and make powdered alcohol illegal,” he said in a news release. “Underage alcohol abuse is a growing epidemic with tragic consequences and powdered alcohol could exacerbate this.”

The Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Reauthorization (STOP) Act would ban the production, sale, distribution or possessions of powdered alcohol.

On its website, Lipsmark said the powdered alcohol ban is the result of pressure from the liquor industry, which wants to protect its market share.

“Since the product isn’t even on the market yet, there is not one shred of evidence that it will be used or abused any differently than liquid alcohol,” the company said on its site. “Every concern we’ve heard is unfounded speculation and that is no basis to outlaw a product.”

Lipsmark said it believes powdered alcohol is safer than liquid alcohol even though it can be snorted.

“Listen, people can snort black pepper … so do we ban it? No, just because a few goofballs use a product irresponsibly doesn’t mean you ban it,” the website said.