Powdered Alcohol Now Legal in the US

The Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in the US has legalised a powdered form of alcohol. The product, known as Palcohol, is a granulated form of the spirit and was temporarily approved last year before being revoked again due to labelling approval errors.

Tom Hague, a spokesperson for the Bureau, confirmed to the Associated Press that “the issues were resolved” and that “four varieties of Palcohol were approved,” including Cosmopolitan, Margarita, Vodka, and Rum, with a fifth flavour, Lemon Drop, waiting approval. Palcohol will be sold in its powdered form in pouches, but it is also soluble, able to create alcoholic drinks with the addition of only water.

Allaying concerns that powdered alcohol could encourage snorting, à la cocaine, Mark Phillips, founder of Palcohol, writes on the company’s website, “We believe that powdered alcohol is actually safer than liquid alcohol. It’s painful to snort due to the alcohol. Second, it’s impractical. It takes approximately 60 minutes to snort the equivalent of one shot of vodka. Why would anyone do that when they can do a shot of liquid vodka in two seconds?”

Though legal now, Palcohol is unlikely to go on sale until Summer 2015, which will surely disappoint boozehounds eager to imbibe the power during the traditional St. Patrick’s Day blowout on 17th March.

Source: Mashable