Powered alcohol.
That is the idea behind palcohol, a controversial new product that was recently approved.
Palcohol is a powder that, when dissolved in water, will become an alcoholic beverage. It comes in different flavors and types, like beer and wine.
According to Lipsmark, the company that owns palcohol, palcohol is for people who are on the move and don’t have the space to carry heavy bottles, such as while hiking.
“Palcohol would be a lot easier to carry as there wouldn’t be the waste of cans or glass bottles,” said freshman Adrian Putz.
Palcohol was approved for sale last Wednesday. Just like alcohol, it will be illegal to sell to minors.
Even so, there are states that want to prevent palcohol from being put on the shelves, including Alaska and Vermont.
Reasons for banning the sale of palcohol included the fear that it might be used to secretly bring
alcohol into places where drinking is prohibited, such as high schools.
In an article from Forbes, Senator Chuck Schumer, who has been vocally anti-palcohol, said, “We simply can’t sit back and wait for powdered alcohol to hit store shelves across the country, potentially causing more alcohol-related hospitalizations and God forbid, deaths. This legislation will make illegal the production and sale of this Kool-Aid for underage drinking.”
Alcohol at Carlmont is prohibited. If administrators catch a student in the possession of
alcohol, the penalty could be expulsion.
Because alcohol is a liquid, there are limited amounts of places places where a student is able to hide it.
Since palcohol is in a powdered form, there would be no need for bulky bottles that could give someone away.
“Palcohol would be easier to bring to school than alcohol because it is in packets. You can just bring it in your pocket, put it in water, shake it, and boom, alcohol,” said sophomore Alexa Bayanagos.
While palcohol may be in a different form than traditional alcoholic drinks, it is still alcohol.
“I think that there is a small percentage of kids that smuggle alcohol into school already, and I think the fact that it is easier to smuggle might increase the percentage by only a small amount,” said sophomore Harry Andrews.
