People will abuse powdered alcohol, Ohio lawmakers say

My latest at Ohio Watchdog...


By Maggie Thurber | for Ohio Watchdog

PALCOHOL: In a YouTube video,
Palcohol inventor Mark Phillips
 shows how the product works
and addresses what he calls
the “completely false” claims
about his product.

We have powdered coffees, powdered juices, powdered soups, powdered eggs, powdered milk.

Why not powdered alcohol? After all, it’s light, portable and convenient.

But we’ll abuse it, two Ohio lawmakers say.

Reps. Ron Gerberry, D-Austintown, and Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, introduced House Bill 594 to prohibit the sale of powdered or crystalline alcohol in Ohio.

Alaska and South Carolina have already banned the substance while New York, Vermont and Minnesota have pending legislation to do the same.

“The potential for abuse of this product far outweighs any value it may have in the marketplace,” Gerberry said in a news release.

“The public health risk of powdered alcohol is too great for our state to ignore,” Buchy said in the same release. “We have to do our part in putting forth reasonable laws that protect our children and prevent the availability of drug forms that have a higher potential for abuse.”

Their concerns mirror those of U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, who asked the Food and Drug Administration to ban it.

In April, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which regulates taxing and labeling of alcohol products, approved seven flavors of Palcohol. They then temporarily rescinded those approvals due to a technical issue with the package fill levels. Palcohol made some changes and resubmitted the labels for approval.

According to Schumer, the FDA supersedes the TTB approval in the presence of significant health concerns.

He said “experts” should “step in before this mind-boggling product, surely to become the Kool-Aid of teen binge drinking, sees the light of day” and “stop this potentially deadly product in its tracks” to avoid the “hospitalizations and death that are likely to follow.”

Nonsense, says its inventor.

Read more

House Study Committee to hold drug addiction hearing in Toledo

Press release:

COLUMBUS—In an effort to facilitate a constructive, public discussion on drug addiction in Ohio, the Ohio House of Representatives’ Prescription Drug Addiction and Healthcare Reform Study Committee will hold a regional hearing in Toledo on Tuesday, September 3rd. The hearing marks the third of four statewide hearings that strive to address this issue during the House’s summer recess.

“We are working side by side with Ohioans to address opioid addiction and keep our communities healthy,” said State Representative Robert Sprague (R-Findlay), who serves as chairman of the study committee. “Prescription drug abuse has been a widespread problem throughout the state and is truly a scourge that knows no ethnic or socioeconomic boundaries. The hearing in Toledo will bring this discussion to the people of northwest Ohio so they can share with the committee their experiences and expertise.”

The public hearing will be held at 1 p.m. at ProMedica Toledo Hospital’s Education Center auditorium (2142 N. Cove. Blvd.). Other members from northwest Ohio who serve on the study committee are House Majority Floor Leader Barbara Sears (R-Monclova Twp.) and Chairman of the House Health and Aging Committee Lynn Wachtmann (R-Napoleon).

The goal of the study committee is to explore ways to address the issue of drug abuse and addiction, an issue that has become a rampant problem in Ohio. Since 2007, unintentional drug overdose death has been the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio. Two-thirds of these deaths involved a prescription opioid, more than cocaine, heroin and marijuana deaths combined.

The fight to address prescription drug abuse in Ohio was initiated by the signing of House Bill 93 into law in April 2011. Although this legislation was effective in helping to close Ohio’s pill mills, many Ohioans continue to struggle with addiction and move toward other illegal drugs, such as heroine, as accessibility of prescription opioids has decreased.

Members of the public are encouraged to testify on this important issue. Rep. Sprague requests that witness testimony be limited to five minutes or 1.5 single-spaced pages in length. Witnesses must fill out a witness form prior to testifying and should submit the witness form and written testimony to Rep. Sprague’s office 24 hours prior to the hearing, if possible. Individuals who decide to testify the day of the committee should supply 40 copies of written testimony upon arrival.

Testimony can be emailed in advance to Rep83@ohiohouse.gov. Other questions about the hearing may be directed to Rep. Sprague’s office at (614) 466-3819.

Media are strongly encouraged to attend.

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