New York has now joined the chorus of states that have banned the sale of powdered alcohol in advance of it hitting the marketplace. The state announced its decision on Friday. Powdered alcohol, merchandised as Palcohol, was given the green light by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB, in March.

However, several states such as Alabama, Alaska, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington have prohibited it from being sold.

After Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation, he said in a statement, “This dangerous product is a public health disaster waiting to happen,” and added, “I am proud to sign this legislation that will keep powdered alcohol off the shelves and out of the wrong hands.”

There’s been such an aggressive front against the product because its portable and inconspicous making it too accessible to underage users. It’s also toxic if unconventionally mixed or ingested.

Senator Joseph Griffo, who sponsored the legislation, said that hindsight can sometimes be a bad thing. “For every substance or drug that has been abused by people in our communities, we often look back and ask ourselves if there is anything we could have done differently to prevent a wave of addiction from reaching the point of no return,” he said.

Nevertheless, Palcohol defends itself by arguing that the powdered version is much safer than its liquid iteration. On it’s website, Palcohol says, “Let’s get one thing clear…banning powdered alcohol is not about public safety. If it really was about public safety, then why isn’t a move made to ban liquid alcohol also…..a product abused by millions of people causing the death of tens of thousands of people each year. Liquid alcohol is a bigger threat to public health than Palcohol will ever be.”

Not only is the product hard to track, but its much less expensive and allows one to get intoxicated much faster making it attractive to young abusers.

Source: HNGN