Sen. Pam Roach’s bill to ban powdered-alcohol products took immediate effect when the governor signed it May 7.

“This ensures powdered alcohol will not be on store shelves in Washington – and will be harder to obtain and illegal to possess. I appreciate that the Legislature helped me respond to this threat before it reached the state; our children will be safer as a result,” said Roach, R-rural Auburn.

Because the Arizona inventor of “palcohol” anticipates sales beginning in summer, Roach made sure Senate Bill 5292 was written so the new law would take effect as soon as it was signed. Otherwise the ban would not have taken effect until late July.

Because of Roach’s work, selling, possessing or using powdered alcohol is now a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. There is an exception for the use of powdered alcohol for legitimate research purposes.

Roach, the Senate’s president pro tempore and a member of the Senate Law and Justice Committee, secured support from Gov. Jay Inslee’s office and the state Liquor Control Board for an outright ban. SB 5292 then won overwhelming approval from the House of Representatives and swept through the Senate with unanimous support.

“We appreciate the work of Senator Roach on this bill as well as the support of Governor Inslee,” said Liquor Control Board Chair Jane Rushford.  “Just as other states have banned this product from entering their marketplaces, we share the same concerns about the potential public-safety implications raised by powdered alcohol.”

Powdered alcohol is a new product that binds alcohol with a starch to form the powder; the alcohol is then released when the powder is mixed with water. Roach said the substance is impossible to detect when added to liquid, putting children in particular danger.

Seth Dawson, with the Washington Association for Substance Abuse and Violence Prevention, also praised Roach’s effort to protect children from the new threat.

“Washington already has its hands full trying to regulate youth access to liquid alcohol and now marijuana. We really did not need for another front to open, from a prevention standpoint, in the form of powdered alcohol,” said Dawson.

“There was a real danger kids could access this product as the latest craze, use it in highly harmful and even fatal amounts, snort it, mix it with energy drinks and easily smuggle it into concerts and sporting events with little chance of being detected. The appropriate legislative response was to ban this substance and not try to simply regulate it,” Dawson said.

He joined Roach at the bill-signing ceremony along with Meghan Sullivan, a member of the association’s board and executive director of Thurston County-based TOGETHER!; also attending was James Paribello, representing the state Liquor Control Board.

“The goal was to enact a law that will protect our children as much as possible. Powdered alcohol will come into Washington through nefarious means but this law greatly reduces the threat,” said Roach.