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Whatever Happened to Powdered Alcohol (Palcohol)?

July 28, 2016 David Arnold NASPA

In May 2015, NASPA hosted a live briefing panel and posted a blog article readying campus substance abuse prevention practitioners to respond to the use of powder alcohol, under the retail name Palcohol. The largest point of agreement from expert panelists was to not allow the emerging product of powdered alcohol take away from existing prevention efforts, and to work in tandem with the community in looking at access to powdered alcohol. At this time, expert panelists agreed that the emerging presence of powdered alcohol should not distract from existing alcohol abuse prevention efforts, but that campus communities needed to address the threat proactively. In preparing for Palcohol to enter the market, administrators needed to work in tandem with the surrounding community, looking into ways to limit access to powdered alcohol.

So what happened?

Sometimes, substance abuse concerns receive rapid attention and require communities to take a proactive approach, mitigating any potential threat to the health and safety of our campuses and students. So while the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved labels for Palcohol to be sold in March 2015 (after a brief erroneous issue in 2014), communities took action to prevent the sale of powdered alcohol. According to the National Conference on State Legislatures, ninety pieces of legislation were introduced by local and state governments to prohibit the sale of alcohol powder (NCSL, 2015). Most legislative efforts were spurred by a concern of underage, but not necessarily collegiate, use and misuse.

Did the new legislation take into consideration the unique implications Palcohol could have on college and university campuses, or was this overlooked?

Keeping Campuses Safe: A Proactive, Collaborative Approach to Substance Abuse Prevention

The response to the emerging threat of Palcohol exemplifies how communities react to perceived danger. It is the same mobilization that led to community responses to intoxicated driving, and an increased state legislative process for individuals driving over the legal alcohol limit. How can we become more involved in the legislative processes, ensuring that stakeholders have considered the impact new legislation or threats may have on student populations and institutions of higher education?

Communities and campuses can work together to address substance abuse issues. When we see new trends develop or become aware of new data about misuse, we can collaborate to prevent harmful behaviors and substance abuse both on campus and within the community at largeTo maximize the efficacy of our response to perceived threats, it is important for prevention practitioners and administrators to work in collaboration with community, county, region, and state efforts to prevent substance abuse and improve prevention strategies.

Getting Campus and Community Members to Work as a Team

Unfortunately, engagement between campus and community members often is delayed until a real or perceived crisis becomes apparent for *both* the campus and the community. This holds true whether the perceived crisis is in the use and misused of alcohol powder, or is in response to the staggering data trends related to prescription drug and opiate abuse. Whether a perceived crisis in youth use and misuse of a powdered alcohol, or the staggering data trends on prescription and street opiate abuse. Meanwhile, the issue of alcohol misuse may be causing the same concerns it has for decades, but may not seem urgent enough to bring campuses and their surrounding communities together.

Tips for Increasing Campus and Community Collaboration

Be proactive instead of reactive. Instead of waiting, challenge your prevention work to engage the community before an emergent need forces that collaboration. Here are some tips on getting started:

  • Look into any community coalition which already meets in your city or local area; often meetings are open to the community, and the presence of a campus prevention professional is welcomed to the table.
  • Contact your state recipient of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Block (SAMHSA) Block Grant funds. SAMHSA Block Grant funds are designed to support communities in substance abuse prevention, and the state agency responsible for distributing these funds can help connect you to relevant local and state coalitions to support your work.
  • Host a meeting of campus prevention team members and campus allies, and invite the community to participate. Prevention cannot be one individual’s job on campus, and substance abuse prevention and compliance with the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act requires many different functional areas of campus to work together. When gathering this group, consider community members who may be appropriate to be at the table (e.g. local police departments, Chambers of Commerce, local government representatives, etc.).
  • Collect, use, and share data. Being data informed helps drive prevention interventions, but campus data cannot exist in a vacuum. Look at data collected on high school use, or compare your data set with relevant reference groups.

The sale of powdered alcohol is all but curbed, but that shouldn’t stop us from looking at the lessons learned from communities’ reaction to Palcohol. There is a passion for drug and alcohol prevention that is shared across the two constituencies of campus and community. And when campuses and communities work together, we can address not just the emergent, but some of the foundationally integrative substance abuse and misuse issues that hinder students’ success.

Additional Information:

For more information and resources related to the challenges faced by higher education when it comes to substance abuse on campuses, visit our Alcohol, Other Drugs Prevention Focus Area. Empower peer educators to become advocates in the fight against substance abuse, and engage with other campus administrators to exchange ideas on how to improve prevention strategies by attending our NASPA Strategies Conference this coming January