The South Carolina Senate recently passed a ban on powdered alcohol, agreeing that the substance is just too dangerous even after the federal government approved selling it. A brand of powdered alcohol called Palcohol was approved for sale by the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau last week. On its website, Palcohol said it hopes to start selling its product in the summer. About half the states in the U.S. are currently considering similar bans.
The bill faces one more procedural vote before it is sent to the House.
Opponents of the bill said it made no sense for South Carolina to sell alcohol in liquid form, but not in powdered form.
Bill sponsor Larry Martin said the powdered alcohol is more dangerous because it has no taste or odor, can be put in anything from other drinks to food and would be easier to hide than a bottle or flask of booze. He warned people could even snort it if they wanted to.
If the ban had failed, powered alcohol would be “the hottest stuff on high school campuses,” said Martin, R-Pickens. “I predict it would be the hottest stuff on a middle school campus.”
Senators seemed to be swayed by Martin’s argument that if powdered alcohol doesn’t cause problems in states where it was legal, then lawmakers can always change
their minds.
