Alaska, Delaware, South Carolina, Vermont and Louisiana have banned powdered alcohol, but a bill passed by the Arizona legislature to join the list was vetoed by Governor Doug Ducey on Monday.
Bill sponsor Rep. Bob Thorpe said he was “very disappointed about the veto of HB2178.”
The bill had the support of every Arizona county sheriff, the Arizona Police Association, the Director of the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control, 3 county attorneys including Bill Montgomery, every community college president and 9 organizations that would profit from the sale of powdered alcohol within Arizona.
Thorpe had hoped to lift the ban if powdered alcohol proved not to be problematic in other states. Thorpe said he was “simply not interested in having Arizona citizens be one of the test cases.”
During the Legislature’s consideration of the bill, Thorpe said he was that powdered alcohol’s most attractive selling point was that is concealable.
The powder can be brought undetected into venues where individuals are barred from bringing in alcohol (ie, theaters, races, ballgames, schools, etc.) and that it can be abused by our underage youth. Recent medical articles suggest that powdered alcohol can be ingested nasally thus allowing the alcohol to get into the bloodstream much faster than drinking.
Recently during testimony in the Kansas Legislature, Chairman Rep. Steve Brunk (Republican from Wichita), asked if bars were worried about losing revenue from customers who will bring their own Palcohol to mix with free water. Bradley said the bigger concern is if a bar patron is sold or given four waters in a row and officers find that person inebriated, then hold the location liable although it never provided alcohol.