Powdered Alcohol and Its Effect on Health, Convenience, and Hangovers

Powdered alcohol, also known as "Palcohol", is made in two different formulations: Beverage (ingestible) and Industrial (non-ingestible). The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved the powdered alcohol, but it might not last long.

Lipsmark, LLC is the owner of Palcohol. According to their website, they believe that powdered alcohol is capable of a variety of uses that liquid alcohol is not, including outdoor activity applications, travel applications, and hospitality applications (among the ingestible kind), and medical applications, manufacturing applications, and energy applications (among the non-ingestible kind).

Despite being approved for use in April, Tom Hogue of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau told USA Today that the issued approvals were actually an error. Apparently, Lipsmark said there was an issue over how much powder was in each bag of Palcohol, and they will have to resubmit their labels for approval. Their labels were first approved on April 8, and then were informed that was not the case.

Although it offers convenient properties - the company plans to offer powdered alcohol can morph into a Cosmopolitan, Mojito, Powderita, and Lemon Drop by just adding water - it contains cyclodextrins, which are typically used in medical products, including erectile dysfunction drugs and bipolar disorder medication. These are regarded as safe for human consumption, but injection into the bloodstream can cause kidney damage. And although that's not likely to happen, misuse of the powered alcohol is bound to occur.

It's a powder. So why wouldn't a curious indulger consider snorting it to experience its effects? Additionally, its convenience is likely to encourage overindulgence. You can essentially have a drink on your person at all times if you're carrying the powder packet and a bottle of water. And who's to say you can add a bunch of packets to the water to get even more drunk? Additionally, the Palcohol packets contain anywhere between 30% to 60% ethanol, which is nearly twice the amount in a can of beer.

To check out the effects of power alcohol, the staff writers of Vice.com took a stab at an all-night bender with the new product. Not only did they find that the powder was highly flammable, they consumed the powder in the expected manners of misuse (snorting and simply eating the powder) and discovered a "weird, out-of-body feeling," according to the article and firsthand account of the experience. Although this wasn't the smartest way to consume the powdered alcohol, this is likely what will happen among the "curious" ones if it's approved and sold in stores.