Secondhand tobacco smoke isn?t the only airborne intoxicant Maryland lawmakers are trying to ban this year.
Del. Susan McComas, R-Harford, is shepherding a bill through the waning days of this year?s legislative session that would ban the sale and use of “alcohol without liquid” machines, devices that use pure oxygen to vaporize alcohol into a mist that can then be inhaled.
“Essentially it?s huffing alcohol,” McComas said.
Advocates of the ban said consuming vaporized alcohol can lead to greater chances of addiction and makes roadside breathalyzer tests less accurate.
Inhaling alcohol leads to faster intoxication because the alcohol isn?t processed by the liver before entering the bloodstream.
Advocates also argued that the machines, sold largely on the Internet by Spirit Partners Inc., were marketed directly to young people as the “ultimate party toy,” and a way to enjoy alcohol without the carbohydrates and the hangover.
“This marketing ploy is insidious and is geared towards a youthful population,” said Michael Gimbel, director of substance abuse education at Sheppard Pratt HealthSystem, in written testimony for the House Economic Matters Committee. The House of Delegates approved the ban in early March 134-1.
The Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee held a hearing Tuesday.
McComas introduced a similar bill in 2006, but the legislation fell victim to the chaos of last year?s eleventh-hour political crisis over electricity rates. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, the Maryland Beer Wholesalers, and AAA Mid-Atlantic support the bill.
McComas said the bill was inspired by a flier from an Ellicott City bar advertising a Halloween party, featuring alcohol without liquid machine. But she said she didn?t know how widespread the devices are in Maryland. Since the product was licensed for sale in the U.S. in 2004, 21 states banned its sale and use.
