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Palcohol

‘Whiskey and Wheaties’ bill goes down in House panel

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A proposal to allow big-box grocers and retailers to sell hard liquor in a cordoned-off section of a larger store — the so-called “whiskey and Wheaties” bill, for those keeping score at home in this year’s legislative food fights — was rejected by a House panel Tuesday afternoon, likely bringing an end to the effort supported by retail giants like Walmart and Target this session. After a debate that took up the lion’s share of the third hour of the…

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Gwen Margolis’ ‘palcohol’ ban progresses in Senate

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A bill to prohibit the sale of powdered alcohol — known in industry lingo as ‘palcohol’ — before it has even arrived at Florida retailers passed another test in the Senate on Thursday. The ban was unanimously approved by the Rules Committee. State Sen. Gwen Margolis’ SB 998 now awaits a vote by the full Senate. Brandon state Sen. Tom Lee spoke for a lot of casual observers as well as his panel-mates when he asked Margolis — like Lee, a former Senate president…

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Of lone votes, outliers and powdered booze

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When you are the lone vote on a bill, whether you like it or not, you are going to get noticed. And when you stand out like that, it’s probably a good strategy to get noticed in the right way. That’s why yesterday’s lone vote by state Rep. Greg Steube against the ban on powdered alcohol was more than a little odd. “We’re banning something that we don’t even know what it is.” Say what? For the record, we do know what it is. In fact, we know exactly what…

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Senate commerce panel says no to Palcohol sales in Florida

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A Senate commerce panel on Monday passed a bill that bans the sale of powdered alcohol in Florida. Palcohol is a powdered form of alcohol manufactured by Lipsmark, a privately held company, made from distilled vodka or distilled Puerto Rican rum. Palcohol is often sold in pouches equal to one shot, which can be mixed with water, juice or other beverages, according to the Lipsmark website. At one time, Lipsmark founder Mark Phillips promoted Palcohol on YouTube as an item…

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House committee passes bill to make palcohol illegal

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Alcohol in the Sunshine State will have to come in the liquid form as a House committee on Tuesday voted in favor of a bill that makes powdered alcohol illegal in Florida. The House Business & Professions Committee advanced the bill  after rejecting an amendment that would have regulated the sale of powdered alcohol instead of banning it. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the U.S. Department of Treasury approved labels for the sale of the powdered…

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Powdered alcohol … the next date rape drug?

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Sometimes, the little bills are the good ones. Sometimes, the bills that don’t involve eye-catching headlines or involve hot-button issues like guns on campus, how to use Amendment 1 dollars, or who should check the genitalia of folks using the bathroom often get little notice. It’s that way with the effort to ban Palcohol. On one hand, powdered alcohol is kind of cool. Take a glass of water, add the powdered mix, add crushed ice and some salt on the rim and voila,…

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