Lawmakers get a whiff of booze vaporizer

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 | 11:02 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A new device that allows you to get drunk quicker but promises there won't be any hangovers, has gained the attention of the Nevada Legislature.

It's called Alcohol With Out Liquid or AWOL, touted as a new low-calorie, low carbohydrate way for adults to consume liquor.

A person chooses his liquor, pours it into a vaporizer. The oxygen mixes with the alcohol, producing a mist which is inhaled through the mouth.

Kevin Morse, president of Spirit Partners, Inc., the company that has the rights to distribute the device in the United States, could not be reached for comment. However he says in an online promotion that it "is simply a fun, new, exciting way for adults to enjoy alcohol in a responsible manner."

But the Assembly Commerce Committee agreed Friday to amend a bill to ban the use of these AWOL machines in Nevada.

Gary Milliken, representing the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, said Monday, "We don't think it is responsible drinking. We don't think it should be in this country."

Stan Olsen of Metro Police has joined Milliken in opposition to allowing AWOL to be distributed in Nevada. He said this vaporized liquor gets into the system quicker and there is a fear for public safety.

In addition, Olsen said there is a portable unit that can be placed on the seat of a car and a person could inhale the alcohol while driving. And it's uncertain whether this vaporized liquor would show up in the blood stream in a test.

Milliken said, "They advertise that you have no hangover if you use this."

Morse, in an online promotion, said it can be detected through a breathalyzer, used by law enforcement officers to nab drunken drivers.

Milliken said the portable device, about the size of a tape recorder, cost about $250. The bigger machines have several outlets allowing people at the same time to inhale the liquor.

Morse says the alcohol enters the bloodstream through the lungs rather than the stomach. He said the resulting feeling "is the same sense of well-being an adult gets from consuming alcohol in the traditional manner, only milder."

The unit has been in use in Europe and Asia. And Morse wants to sell exclusive dealerships in the 50 states.

Milliken said 16 states are considering banning this device.

The amendment proposed by Milliken says it would be illegal to buy, sell or use an alcohol vaporizing device. It would also prohibit using liquor in the promotion of these machines.

The commerce committee agreed to put the amendment into Assembly Bill 553 that requires licensing of "rectifiers" of liquor and wine. A "rectifier" is described as a business "that bottles, packages, colors, flavors or processes liquor by distillation, blending, percolating or using other processes."