Are the new powdered and 'breathable' alcohols really...alcohol?

In the words of Albert Einstein, if you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.

Perhaps that is the mantra that has been adopted by a number of entrepreneurs and inventors, who have been hitting the headlines with weird and wacky ways in which the British public can become intoxicated without actually having to ‘consume’ any drinks — namely synthetic alcohol pills, powdered alcohol and even breathing in alcohol via a steam room. One even promises a hangover-free morning after.

Three products which have hit the news recently include Palcohol, Alcosynth and ‘Alcoholic Architecture’.

Palcohol, effectively powdered alcohol in a packet, is perhaps the most controversial of these new recent inventions, attracting substantial negative publicity. However, its founder Mark Philips explains that it is simply an easy and fun way of ensuring that alcohol is portable, citing the example of wanting to have an alcoholic drink at the end of a long trek or sports match. Obviously, carrying liquid alcohol is not ideal and Palcohol allows you to simply add water in order to create your favourite cocktail or shots of rum or vodka, for example.

Initial concerns centred around people finding it easier to sneak this product into bars or for children to consume, however Philips’ stance is that, in every case, it is simply easier and cheaper to use liquid alcohol and therefore discounts such fears.

A few interesting legal points arise, assuming the idea gets off the ground at all. Section 191 of the Licensing Act 2003 defines alcohol as “spirits, wine, beer, cider or any other fermented, distilled or spirituous liquor”. The main (as opposed to chemical) definition of alcohol in dictionaries describes it as a liquid.
Does this mean that powdered alcohol isn’t alcohol in a licensing sense at all? Quite possibly.

Fears of spiking drinks seem to be unfounded if you watch the video on Palcohol’s website showing the 10 minutes it takes to stir in the powder equivalent of one alcoholic drink (and even then there are undissolved white bits at the top). To snort it (another fear) would require the equivalent of 600 ‘lines’, again for the benefit of a single unit or two of alcohol.

Palcohol’s owner states that it will only be sold in liquor stores in the US, but I assume if it isn’t classed as alcohol under the Licensing 2003 in England and Wales then, in theory, it could be sold in unlicensed shops and other outlets. That may present a problem to authorities and parents alike.

What about the fear of customers sneaking in packets of Palcohol to consume in addition to the drinks that they buy at the bar? This is a risk, particularly if children are mixing powdered alcohol to soft drinks to ‘keep up’ with their older friends — in this context, no offence of selling alcohol to youngsters would have been committed (a soft drink was sold) but another offence might be — that of consumption of alcohol by children on licensed premises.

This offence can be committed both by the underage drinker and anyone in responsibility who knowingly allows that consumption to take place — essentially the DPS or senior staff.

I am reminded of the issues with legal highs but I think that is unfair on Palcohol — you simply need too much powder for a single unit of alcohol to make it worthwhile getting drunk on it or generally harming yourself. It’s much easier simply to buy a drink.

A further new experiment is the alcoholic architecture installation coming soon to London’s Borough Market, effectively a steam room housing a walk-in cloud of breathable cocktail. This new creation comes from Bompas & Parr, which has previously invented such things as bespoke jellies, fruit-flavoured fireworks, and a vaporised fruit experience in Moscow. The idea is that alcohol is absorbed straight into your bloodstream via membranes such as your lungs or eyeballs.

While it might sound rather haphazard, Bompas & Parr states the exhibition has been carefully calibrated to deliver approximately one shot of alcohol per visit. Again, even if the licensing authorities were concerned, is vaporous alcohol considered as ‘alcohol’?

The final new products are Alcosynth and Chaperone, created by Professor David Nutt, both of which have the theoretical potential to eradicate liver damage, aggressiveness or indeed hangovers. Alcosynth is a pill that mimics the effects of alcohol in terms of the feeling of being intoxicated, while Chaperone claims to be able to eradicate a hangover.

These could potentially impact on the leisure market and indeed the licensing regime in ways that perhaps only a futurologist could predict. But before we see customers popping an Alcosynth pill with their alcohol-free G&T, Professor Nutt must negotiate the labyrinthine corridors of UK drug licensing laws.

So don’t put your pub on the market quite yet.