Posted on 03/22/2005 6:02:10 PM PST by Libloather
Distilled Spirits Council Urges Ban of Alcohol Vapor Devices; Senate Committee on Regulated Industries Hears Bill Today
Mon Mar 21,12:48 PM ET
To: State Desk
Contact: Sarah Rosen of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, 202-682-8840; Web: http://www.distilledspirits.org
WASHINGTON, March 21, /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Distilled Spirits Council today urged swift passage of legislation introduced in Florida banning "alcohol without liquid" (AWOL) devices that allow consumers to inhale alcohol by mixing alcohol with pure oxygen.
The bill, SB 794, sponsored by Senator Mike Haridopolos, would prohibit the sale or use of these devices and make its sale a misdemeanor. SB 794 is scheduled to be heard today before the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries today at 2:45 pm.
"We commend Senator Haridopolos for trying to keep these irresponsible devices out of Florida and we urge other states to do the same," said Dr. Peter Cressy, President of the Distilled Spirits Council. "The distilled spirits industry deplores any attempt to encourage reckless consumption of alcohol."
Cressy pointed to AWOL's company web site which calls the device "the ultimate party toy." The site states that this method of inhaling alcohol "reduces the effects of hangovers."
"Consumed responsibly and in moderation, beverage alcohol can be a normal, healthy adult lifestyle choice," said Cressy. "There is absolutely nothing responsible about these devices and they should be banned immediately."
The Distilled Spirits Council will provide written testimony to the Committee. A copy of the testimony follows.
---
-- Testimony of David Wojnar, Vice President, Distilled Spirits Council Submitted to the Florida Senate Committee on Regulated Industries
March 21, 2005
I am writing to you on behalf of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a national trade association representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits sold in the United States, in support of SB 794, legislation to ban the Alcohol Without Liquid (AWOL) Machine.
The members of the Distilled Spirits Council are committed to fighting the irresponsible consumption of beverage alcohol. Through our sister organization, The Century Council, our members have invested over $130 million in programs and initiatives to encourage responsible decision-making and to fight abuse, including underage drinking and drunk driving. We have partnered with communities across Florida to achieve these common goals.
Through its website, the marketers of AWOL promote this device as the "ultimate party toy" and a way to reduce the effects of a hangover. This attempt to glorify reckless consumption is wrong and sends the wrong message. This type of practice and message is unacceptable. There is absolutely nothing responsible about the AWOL device and we urge swift passage of SB 794.
Are the barstools upside down? Pretty funky looking picture there, if you get my drift.
Its a myth, and a hoax, but one that will make some good money.
Idiotic legislators could try to go after these guys for fraud and such, instead, they will give them attention, credibility, and help them make money, probably underground though.
I will be glad when politicians get "Nerf World" built. Where I can't hurt myself even if I want to.
Translation: They want to ban competition.
I'm wondering why the Distilled Spirits Council would have a dog in this fight... NOT!
Looks like a gay bar
What happened? Did you and your friends still get a hangover?
If this is true, which I doubt, then the imbibers had better be damm careful with their cigarettes, sparks, and open fires.
Their lungs could very well demonstrate how a piston works.
Pure oxygen mixed with vaporized alcohol, sounds like rocket fuel.
Hey honey good news, I quit drinking, bad news, I'm plastered.
ROFL
Band name ping.
Let's leave it up to the courts. They seem to know best in all matters now. That should keep them there lawyers busy a while. :)
These devices certainly remove any argument about why people drink alcohol; it's clearly not about socializing or having a matching drink with your food -- it's all about getting drunk as fast and as thoroughly as possible.
I did hear of one alcoholic little old lady who got her high from wine enemas. One thing for sure you couldn't smell alcohol on her breath.
You are right about the flammability.
Can't be accurate. Pure O2???
That is, my lungs are plastered all over the walls after the ethyl alcohol - oxygen mixture was ignited by my teeth sparking.
Yessum, that's me all over.
Been awhile since I took chemistry but if I recall correctly, ethanol is a liquid at room temperature. It can be vaporized but still a liquid, tiny misty droplets.
Similiar to what happens to gasoline when it goes thru a carbuerator.
Am sure some friendly FReeper will correct me if I am wrong.
Looks like a nightclub for asthmatics.
I remember 30 years ago I used to fly RC helicopters. I drove one between Harrisburg and Philadelphia with my RC helicopter in the back of the station wagon. The fuel tank had leaked (nitro and alcohol) and when I got home and stepped out of the car I couldn't stand up I was so intoxicated...
Bingo!
I was at best only vaguely aware of AWOL prior to reading this post, and I couldn't discern any logical reason for a ban on it. So I did some quick googling, and immediately discovered that the manufacturers of liquid alchohol, such as the National Beer Wholesalers Association and Diageo, the world's leading beer, wine and spirits company (owner of brands like Johnny Walker, Smirnoff, Guinness, etc.), hate AWOL. They are trying to stomp out an up-and-coming competitor before it can get established and cuts into their business.
The hypocrisy of liquid alchohol companies complaining about inhaled alchohol on the basis that they want to safeguard the public from alchohol abuse and drunk driving is just staggering [pun intended].
I not an alchohol consumer myself, but I see no problem with other people inhaling it instead of swallowing it. In both cases they just need to avoid driving afterwards until the alchohol level in their bloodstream has declined to a safe threshold.
From that thread a few weeks ago, the fastest way to get drunk:
Yeah, we have some absolute alcohol (100%)in the lab I work in. Nondenatured, to boot. It's funny when you read the label. Just like any chemical, it has warnings if you ingest it. Target organs : liver, etc. Also says "may effect behavior."
LOL
Close but no cigar, swap the Jack Black with Everclear and you have the ultimate drunk.
In all likelyhood the LAST drunk.
At least you wont blow up the danged neighborhood doing it this way :)))
Sorry, I couldn't remember the "beverage" name, so I picked one at random.
Good band name, dreadful concept! ;)
BTW, now that my PC is back up and running, I'm gonna bop on over to that thread and get my list back.
When AWOL devices are outlawed .... well I suspect that another use will be found for the pulmonary equipment used by those who have asthma.
I imagine that would burn a bit. The alcohol would dry out the mucus membranes. I don't know much about the nerve fibers in the anus or colon...don't know if pain would be perceived. Any Proctologists viewing the thread?
Not really, the machine still uses alcoholic beverages....you just inhale instead....great for those who want to get drunk but not consume calories.
Oh wow, yes. Take a puff on your cig, KABOOM!
I am not a doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
If the alcohol goes into the body by any means it gets metabolized.
The water/alcohol mixture has a depressed boiling point that results in the 95% limit. To get to 100% you add benzene to the alcohol. That takes the last 5% of the water away, but makes the end product toxic for human consumption.
oxygen is bubbled through water.
Similar to an asthma inhaler, the AWOL machines consist of an oxygen generator attached by tubes to a hand-held vaporizer. The user can choose any hard liquor, which is poured into the vaporizer. The oxygen from the generator then passes through a tube and absorbs the alcohol. A mist forms from the two ingredients that the user inhales.
AWOL is a hangover-free way to consume alcohol because of the oxygen in the vapor, which is proven to reduce the feeling of a hangover, according to the product's website. The website also emphasizes that AWOL is safe because both of its components - oxygen and moderate consumption of alcohol - are safe.
The site also markets the product as low-calorie and low-carbohydrate alternative to regular liquor because the inhaled alcohol doesn't go through the stomach.
Inhaled alcohol enters the bloodstream through the lungs instead, and the result is a less-filtered, low-calorie buzz. Regardless, the body expels alcohol the same whether it is inhaled or sipped and can be detected using the same methods so AWOL cannot be used to get around alcohol laws.
Wouldn't concentrated sulphuric acid also absorb the remaining water, without mixing with the alcohol?
sure does...probably take out the whole bar when it goes too.
Could one freeze out the water? Probably wouldn't be cost-effective.
Nope, I quit after a while, maybe 10 or 15 minuits, a couple of guys were stubborn and one stuck on till like 45 minuits.
Pretty much to absolutley no effect, no buzz, nada, so we drank the old fashioned way.
Thanks for the info.
Like I said previous, it's been awhile since I took chemistry.
Always thought it was made by progressive distallation.
Though I've never been drunk in my life, I'd expect just plain Everclear to be as "good." Part of the reason for hangovers is toxic congenerics (other alcohols and aldehydes) that are formed by fermentation, in the beverage. It's the purity that does the trick, not the means of ingestion. As for pure oxygen, how much can there be in those little spritzers?
They now sell individual user machines for $299!!!
Much cheaper than the group machine for bars.
I prefer to drink my martinis, but would try out the AWOL.
I quit after about 10 or 15 minuits, but one of my friends tried for like 45 minuits.
You'd absorb more doing straight shots.
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