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Last updated on Monday, June 29, 2015
(UNDATED) - Indiana is still struggling to keep so-called “synthetic drugs” off store shelves. But legislators don’t expect any similar challenges with another banned substance.
An Arizona company plans to begin marketing powdered alcohol this summer. But Indiana joined 11 other states this year in banning it. Three more have imposed temporary bans. Indianapolis Senator Jim Merritt authored both that law and Indiana's ban on drugs like bath salts and Spice.
But while bath salts are a gray-market drug with shadowy manufacturers, powdered alcohol is the brainchild of a legitimate company hoping to market to hikers and campers, under the brand name Palcohol. Merritt says the ban simply means the company will limit distribution to the 35 states where it's legal.
Merritt and other opponents fear Palcohol will be too easy for underage drinkers to get. Palcohol's manufacturer, Lipsmark LLC, argues it'll be restricted in the same way as liquid alcohol, and if anything would be easier for minors to get if bans force it out of liquor stores and onto the street.
While most laws passed in this year's session will take effect when the fiscal year starts on Wednesday, the powdered alcohol ban became law the instant Governor Pence signed it.
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