The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) temporarily approved the sale of a powdered alcohol, known as Palcohol, earlier this month.
Unfortunately for college students everywhere, the TTB announced that the approval was an error, because of discrepancies in the amount of powdered alcohol per package.This strange series of events garnered Palcohol plenty of media attention, which answered many questions about the product — mainly why and how it was created.
Despite the short history and lack of research behind the product, Palcohol always seems to be associated with the dangers of alcohol, even though the company took precautions and added volume to the product to ward off nasal consumption.
Yet, the new concern over powdered alcohol abuse does not make sense given that alcohol is the most abused drug society has.
According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 87.6 percent of people over the age of 18 admit to drinking at least once in their life.
Of all these drinkers, the NIAAA reports that 16 million of them will develop an alcohol-use disorder, which is classified as harmful drinking or alcoholism, but doesn’t necessarily have to reach the point of physical dependence. According to the Center for Disease Control, not including accidents and homicides, 25,692 people suffered an alcohol-induced death in 2010. Those are mainly cases of alcohol poisoning, disorders such as cirrhosis of the liver account for another 15,990 deaths.
These numbers aren’t inconsequential, they represent thousands of dollars spent and lives lost.
Combine all that with numbers regarding drunk driving by the CDC and a gruesome picture is painted. These problems are not just national ones. The University of Idaho employs merous education and prevention programs to reduce dangerous drug and alcohol use. The eCheckup To Go program allows students to analyze their drinking habits and assess whether they are healthy or not.
Drinking With the Cops is another example of a resource provided by UI to help curb unhealthy drinking habits.
When these programs do not prevent drinking, students caught drinking on campus must enter Choices, a two-part session, which provides alcohol education and tries to help students act responsibly.
Despite these horrible statistics, fairly steep sentencing and prevention programs galore, these numbers have remained fairly consistent and alcohol still poses a huge problem for many. The negative effects of alcohol use can easily outweigh the fun it provides.
If an average weekend at any number of apartment complexes in Moscow, Greek Row or the Bagel Shop at 3 a.m. are any indication, alcohol use is alive and well and these negative consequences are of minor concern to many people.
Which is fine, alcohol is a major part of the college experience, but people need to respect just how bad it can get sometimes.
Palcohol may be a massive flop, it may be the next big thing, but if nothing else it has shown just how easily the ill effects of alcohol are to ignore. Despite the incredible abuse potential and negative impact alcohol can have on one’s life, it’s powdered imitators have been demonized it as if the problems they may create are something new.
When dealing with potentially life ruining substances, it’s important to tread lightly. But rose colored glasses and ignorance to facts aren’t helping anyone, and powdered alcohol isn’t inherently worse than one of the most abused drugs in the modern world.
Justin Ackerman can be reached at [email protected]