Beware of powdered alcohol, liquid cocaine

Whereas this has removed physical borders and has reduced the world to a global village, cyberspace has also opened up a Pandora’s Box of unsavoury elements, which threaten the quality of our very human existence. The most vulnerable to these are our children, who, in their innocence, are vulnerable to the uncensored vile and mischief of the purveyors of garbage on the Internet, thus placing our future in a tenuous state.

Two examples of this type of information currently available on the Internet and which have triggered alarms in my mind are the advent of powdered alcohol and liquid cocaine. As a professional in the field of substance abuse treatment, rehabilitation and prevention, I am deeply troubled by these, and I feel that I am doing a disservice to society if I did not highlight these developments as major threats to the wellbeing of our children in particular.

The art of liquefying cocaine is widely available on the Internet and it is not rocket science. In fact it is most fashionable these days for the drug cartels to ship their cocaine in liquid form so as to avoid detection at the various borders. The US Coast Guard reported that in 2008, they seized over 7,000 gallons of liquid cocaine disguised in fruit juice, wine, rum and other liquids aboard vessels flying flags of various Latin American countries. We are also aware of our own history-making cocaine in Trinidad juice cans, the death of a British soldier from ingesting cocaine from a soft drink bottle bearing the label of a well known local beverage and the recent demise of a family of three and a friend in Guyana, after drinking from a popular multi-vitamin tonic laced with cocaine. As a major hub in the transshipment trade, it does not require much imagination to surmise that liquid cocaine is passing through TT en route to other destinations, and much of this remains on our shores for local consumption.

The questions are how much of this concoction is being used, who is using it and are our children having access to the drug? Bear in mind that cocaine is highly soluble and of greater concentration in this form and could be easily added to other beverages unknowing to the user. Think of the implications for our children if cocaine in small amounts is being ingested in their favourite soft drinks, given the highly addictive nature of the drug and the physiological, psychological and social consequences of its use

The other piece of troubling information on the Internet is that of powdered alcohol. This is a reality that has been with us since 2007. High school students from the Netherlands invented powdered alcohol as part of a final-year project, and subsequently used it as a means of sneaking alcohol into clubs to beat the legal age restriction of 16 years for alcohol consumption. Once dissolved, the powder delivers up to three percent alcohol, its contents disguised by its lime colouring and flavour. Further in the USA, Palcohol, powdered alcohol, is now being described as the world’s sneakiest and most efficient way to get drunk. This product comes in various flavours such as rum, brandy, whisky, red wine, white wine and vodka, is easily dissolved in water and can be used with similar efficiency sprinkled on food and even snorted. Powdered alcohol is available on the Internet and can be ordered by people underage for alcohol consumption since there are no legal restrictions on its use or purchase. It is claimed that this product delivers up to 4.8 percent volume alcohol, similar to the amount found in one and a half glasses of liquor.

Pause for a while and contemplate the implications of these products for our children.

The fact that the information is available on the Internet means that access is possible. The fact that the products can be easily disguised as fruit-flavoured drinks means that the next pack of juice crystals your child empties into a glass of water might be powdered alcohol. Worse, the next tetra pack of fruit juice your child puts a straw into might be laced with liquid cocaine. Pure speculation one might say, but very, very possible.

Garvin Cole

Signal Hill, Tobago