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State Lawmaker Taking No Chances With Powdered Alcohol

DENVER (CBS4) - A product that's not yet for sale in Colorado is already facing a possible ban. It's powdered alcohol, or what's known as Palcohol.

Federal regulators approved powdered alcohol last year, and then rescinded their decision, saying they need to evaluate how much alcohol is in each packet. Some lawmakers say the product is just too dangerous and they want to prevent it from being sold in Colorado.

"I'm sure a lot parents don't even know powdered alcohol exists," said Rep. JoAnn Windholz, R-Adams County.

Windholz is carrying a bill that would ban powdered alcohol in Colorado.

"It can be in different flavors, different colors … it can be ingested in all different ways … it could be snorted," she said.

RELATED: Powdered Alcohol? Not So Fast, Colorado Lawmaker Says

The head of emergency medicine at Denver Health Medical Center, Dr. Christopher Colwell, says they're seeing a growing number of kids drunk from powdered alcohol.

"We've had a few that have been very, very intoxicated … one in particular that I know of that had needed to have a breathing tube put in," Colwell said.

Colwell says most of the patients are underage and say they bought the product online for its novelty and easy portability. But it's also risky, and Windholz worries it could be deadly in kids.

"If it is ingested in powder form it gets to bloodstream faster, and in a child, their body mass is so much smaller," she said.

The company that owns Palcohol says each one ounce packet is the equivalent of a shot of liquor. That's raised concern it might lead to the kind of overdoses that have happened with edible marijuana.

Several other states have already banned powdered alcohol.

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