POLICY MEMO No.

2016-1

Powdered alcohol
by Wayne Hoffman

SUMMARY
Powdered alcohol has been around for many years, but commercialization attempts have
failed. Should powdered alcohol be marketed in Idaho, existing Idaho law makes additional statutes regarding its control unnecessary.

Conservative principles. Idaho solutions.

Idaho Freedom Foundation
2404 Bank Drive, Ste 314
Boise, Idaho 83705

IdahoFreedom.org
Media@IdahoFreedom.org

414 Shoup Ave., Ste 116

Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402

POLICY MEMO: POWDERED ALCOHOL

History
Powdered alcohol is not new. Its origins can be
traced to a 19th century American patent.1 More contemporary variations were developed in the 1960s.2
Commercialization attempts were made by General
Foods in 1976, when the company filed a patent for
alcohol containing dextrin powder.3Still, products
never reached the marketplace. In 2005, powdered
alcohol re-emerged when a German company began marketing a product called Subyou. It had 4.8
percent alcohol by volume and was sold in convenience stores, gas stations and bars. Nonetheless, it
attracted little interest, and was gone in a couple of
years.4 Other efforts flopped, including a concoction
created by Dutch students in 2007.5 The most recent
attempts, by an Arizona company in 2014, have yet
to reach consumers.

government full power and authority to permit,

control and regulate or prohibit the manufacture,
sale, keeping for sale, and transportation for sale, of
intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes. 7
The Legislature vested authority for the control of
alcoholic liquor under the State Liquor Division.
Idaho Code 23-105 defines alcoholic liquor to include non-liquid forms. This is found in the language
that says alcoholic liquid includes any liquid or solid,
patented or not, containing spirits, and susceptible
of being consumed by a human being for beverages
purposes and containing more than four percent
(4%) of alcohol by volume. 8
The Arizona example

Action needed? Not necessarily

In 2015, Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey vetoed a bill to ban powdered alcohol. Ducey argued
that the ban was unnecessary, given the states existing regulatory structure.

Idaho lawmakers who are concerned about powdered alcohol should review the states current
regulatory structure to determine if it is already
sufficient to control the product. Under the Idaho
Constitution, lawmakers are to promote temperance
and morality.6 The state constitution also gives the

Ducey said, At this time, there does not appear to be

evidence that this bill is necessary. I have instructed
the director of the Department of Liquor Licenses
and Control to review administrative rules to ensure
that powdered alcohol is regulated to the same extent as other spirituous beverages. 9

Conclusion
Idaho law already gives the State Liquor Division control over alcohol, regardless of the form it is presented.
Additionally, the failure of inventors and entrepreneurs to commercialize powdered alcohol, going back two
centuries, strongly indicates that there legislative action on this matter should not be a priority.
1 National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, Powdered Alcohol: An Encapsulation, November 2015.
http://tinyurl.com/glgwm82
2 http://www.google.com/patents/US3436224.
3 http://www.google.com/patents/US3956509.
4 Smithsonian.com, The Surprising History of Making Alcohol a Powdered Substance, May 7, 2014, http://
tinyurl.com/nxd9drd.
5 Just add water - Students invent powdered alcohol, Reuters, June 6, 2007, http://tinyurl.com/zqedrpq.
6 Idaho Constitution, Article III, Section 24.
7 Idaho Constitution, Article III, Section 26.
8 Idaho Code 23-105(c).
9 Ducey veto clears way for powdered alcohol, Arizona Republic, April 15, 2015.