New York Lawmaker Wants Alcohol Vaporizers Banned

Before Alcohol Without Liquid (AWOL) machines even hit the market, a New York lawmaker is taking steps to ban the device, Newsday reported July 23.

The AWOL machine is a hand-held device that allows drinkers to inhale vaporized alcohol to achieve a "quick hit." U.S. distributor Spirit Partners Inc. is marketing the device as a way to use alcohol without the calories, carbohydrates, or a hangover.

"I feel it's important for us to take a preemptive act in this case before they show up in bars on Long Island," said Legislator Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor). His bill would ban the sale, purchase and use of the device in Suffolk County.

Cooper said the AWOL machine would increase alcohol misuse, drunken driving and underage drinking. In addition, physicians said that the vaporized alcohol bypasses the organs that normally absorb it -- like the liver and stomach -- resulting in a high, and potentially toxic, dose of alcohol to the brain.

Cooper is confident his bill will pass. "My gut feeling is that it will pass," he said. "I think a strong case will be made for the risks."