Peer urges import ban on powdered alcohol

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33335365

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Ministers have been urged to ban imports of powdered alcohol as part of a crackdown on so-called legal highs.

Labour peer Lord Brooke said its use was spreading on a "wide scale" in the US despite being banned by some states.

Powdered alcohol, he argued, could be "snorted" or "baked into cakes" or added to confectionery, making it easier for minors to consume it.

Home Office minister Lord Bates said the government was aware of the issue and was considering how to address it.

Lord Brooke was speaking as peers discussed the government's Psychoactive Substances Bill, which will criminalise the production, supply and trade in psychoactive substances and carry a maximum prison sentence of seven years.

Legitimate substances, such as food, alcohol, tobacco, nicotine, caffeine and medical products, would be excluded from the legislation but Lord Brooke said powdered alcohol posed a particular risk and urged ministers to act now.

Although not available in the UK, he warned that "as night follows day" powdered alcohol, which can be mixed with water to make a standard flavoured drink, will eventually come to the UK through the internet.

Leading powdered alcohol brand Palcohol was approved for sale by US regulators earlier this year.

Its manufacturer, US firm Lipsmark, has criticised efforts by certain US states to ban it in advance of it going on the market, arguing that it is "legal, safe and revolutionary" and will reduce carbon emissions by "being so much lighter to ship than liquid alcohol".

It was recently banned in the Australian state of Victoria but the Australian government has rejected calls for a federal-wide ban.