ALCOHOL is now being made in a powder form, and may be appearing on the shelves in some areas of the USA very soon.

That country, through the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, recently approved ‘Palcohol’ for sale. This form of alcohol is expected to be available in retail stores and for purchase online by as early as June of this year.

The powdered alcohol will be supplied in single-serving packages, each equivalent to one shot of alcohol and weighing one ounce, and will have five available versions-rum, vodka, and three forms of cocktails: cosmopolitan, lemon drop, and powderita, which will taste just like a margarita. These mixed drink cocktails will have natural flavourings and use sucralose as a sweetener.

Substance abuse experts, however, are very concerned about the imminent availability of the powdered alcohol because of its health risks and potential for abuse. The flavoured ‘freeze-dried’ alcohol, which looks like powdered Jell-O, can be thrown into one’s back pocket and be taken almost anywhere. One would no longer have to carry around a bottle of alcohol if one is going on a picnic, a lyme, or going for a ride on a bicycle or motorbike. Once you get to your final destination, all you would have to do is simply add water or a mixer to re-constitute the alcohol, and you would have an instant alcoholic beverage.

Further, because it is concentrated, the product would be easier than liquid alcohol to sneak into venues where alcohol consumption is banned. Much concern regarding the development and imminent availability of powdered alcohol has therefore been very strongly expressed by some professors of psychiatry, as well as by addiction specialists.

HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL INTAKE

Heavy alcohol use is known to be associated with an increased risk of injury, and has both short- and long-term harmful effects. Impaired judgement and an increased risk of motor vehicle accidents, spousal or child abuse, risky sexual behaviour, and serious medical consequences such as liver damage and high blood pressure are all along the spectrum of its effects. Chronic and excessive consumption of alcohol can also wreak havoc on the brain, increasing the risk for dementia, stroke, and psychosocial impairment.

While light to moderate consumption of alcohol (eg one or two glasses of wine) has some health benefits and has been linked to a lower risk for stokes, heavy consumption is associated with an increased risk for haemorrhagic stroke and other severe events where there is a reduction of blood flow in the brain.

POSSIBLE DISASTER

WAITING TO HAPPEN

The powdered substance will make it easy to ‘snort’ the alcohol, which is not only worrisome and dangerous, but also makes it more liable to be combined with other drugs such as cocaine and marijuana. Further, because the water has been removed in making the powdered alcohol, the percentage of alcohol by volume will depend on how much liquid is added. If six ounces of liquid is added, its potency will be equivalent to a standard mixed drink.

As with many new products, the use of powdered alcohol may also bring problems that were not anticipated. Opponents are concerned as harm has occurred previously with some new products that appeared to be different formulations of a seemingly harmless substance, but which after approval for use by law, had harmful effects. They quoted the example of ‘Four Loko’, which was a combination of alcohol with four ‘shots’ of espresso coffee. In this case, alcohol had a ‘built-in protection’ effect where once you drank too much, you would naturally fall asleep. However, if you added four ‘shots’ of espresso, the stimulant effect of the coffee would keep you awake and so prolong your ability to continue to drink

APPROVED LEGISLATION DOES

NOT MEAN PRODUCTS ARE SAFE

Another concern expressed is the misconception that products that are subject to abuse are safer if or when they are made legal. To refute that idea, opponents have pointed to the big disaster of addiction that has resulted from the smoking of cigarettes. Further, the novelty of the product may lure young people to try to impress their peers, or to appear ‘cool’, and to use the powdered alcohol to excess. Psychiatrists have often seen these features among young people.

Opponents also point out that powdered alcohol had been approved for sale in the past by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, but that approval was rescinded. The reasons then were not revealed, but people opposing the production and sale of powdered alcohol wish to have this matter revisited.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

Derrick Aarons MD, PhD is a consultant bioethicist/family physician, a specialist in ethical issues in medicine, the life sciences and research, and is the Ethicist at the Caribbean Public Health Agency – CARPHA. (The views expressed here are not written on behalf of CARPHA)