On March 10 the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau federally approved the sale of Palcohol.

Palcohol is a powder that, when mixed with water, turns into an alcoholic beverage.

The Michigan Legislature now has to decide whether or not the sale of Palcohol, and other powdered alcohol, will be legal for sale within the state.

If powdered alcohol is sold in Michigan, health officials are concerned about it reaching minors.

One of the issues is that minors may be able to conceal and obtain powdered alcohol because it comes in packets and can be easily taken without notice by parents or family members.

However, the company making Palcohol, Lipsmark LLC, has addressed these concerns on its website.

Lipsmark believes that concealing Palcohol will be difficult because it comes in packets that are 4 inches by 6 inches in size, five times bigger than a 1.7-ounce bottle of liquid alcohol.

Another issue is the uncertainty of how powdered alcohol will affect the body.

Because it is in powdered form, Palcohol concerns health experts who think it may be snorted by people who hope to feel the effects of the alcohol more quickly.

Mrs. Amy Graham, health teacher, expressed her concerns about the abuse of powdered alcohol.

“Consuming anything in a way that is not intended has the ability to increase risks to your health,” Graham said. “Alcohol dilates your blood vessels and direct contact to your nasal passages and sinuses could cause damage in those areas.”

Also, Lipsmark believes that people will not result to snorting the product because it would cause a burning in the nose that could deter users from doing so.

Senior Tyler Gagne said that he does not think that snorting the powder will be a large problem.

Gagne said, “The burning feeling in the nose is a form of prevention against potential abuse.”

Lipsmark also said that it would take an hour to snort enough powder to be equivalent to one shot of vodka.

One packet of powdered alcohol is meant to be mixed with 6 ounces of water to produce an alcoholic beverage that has the same alcohol content as a standard mixed drink.

Sen. Rick Jones of Grand Ledge is working on a bill that would make the sale of powdered alcohol illegal in Michigan, but Graham is doubtful of the bill’s success.

“Banning it (powdered alcohol) has the ability to increase the allure of using it because it is illegal,” Graham said. “If banned it would probably be easier for teens to buy it if it was sold on the black market instead of in a store.”

Colorado, New York, Ohio, and Rhode Island are currently taking steps to ban powdered alcohol.

Powdered alcohol is already banned in South Carolina, Louisiana, Alaska, and Vermont.  It also cannot be sold in Massachusetts because the state’s liquor licenses only cover alcohol as a liquid substance.

The same laws that apply to minors with liquid alcohol will also apply to powdered alcohol, so people need to be 21 or older to buy or consume it.

Despite the data from the company that produces Palcohol, many experts are still concerned about the misuse of the product by teenagers.

Experts believe that no matter how or where powdered alcohol is sold, teenagers will still obtain and use the product illegally.

“The potential for abuse scares me,” Graham said. “Anything new and in a shiny package is intriguing to teenagers, for example, e-cigarettes.”

Whether powdered alcohol becomes illegal to sell in Michigan is still to be determined.