Powdered alcohol not what our society needs

With American workers struggling to stay competitive with the world market, why is it we're finding more and more ways to make ourselves less and less productive?

As if there weren't enough opportunities to get drunk, a company is now producing a powdered alcohol.

"Palcohol," available in rum, vodka and other flavors, was reportedly approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, but that approval was reportedly issued in error.

The company also pulled back some advertising that suggested smuggling it into concerts and sporting events, or pouring it on breakfast cereal to start your day off "right."

It turns out powdered alcohol is nothing new; one patent filed in the 1970s involved absorbing ethanol into some sort of carbohydrate powder.

Powdered drinks are even older; remember the Tang the astronauts drank? Or, the creation of a drink called Kool-Aid, by converting an earlier drink into a powdered form, making it easier to distribute to far-flung customers who then add sugar and water to create the final product?

(Hastings celebrates Kool-Aid Days every year, because Edwin Perkins invented the powdered drink there in 1927. Southwest Nebraska shares in the heritage as well, as his earlier, liquid drink, Fruit Smack, was invented in a Hendley drug store, part of which is now in the High Plains Museum in McCook.)

Observers worry Palcohol opens up all sorts of avenues for abuse, especially by underage drinkers. The company said it plans to dilute the product enough so that "snorting" the powder would be ineffective.

While alcohol continues to be a problem for some -- and by extension, all of us -- it's not really a new problem.

The same can't be said for legalized marijuana in Colorado, which is spilling over to become a problem for law enforcement in Southwest Nebraska and the Panhandle.

Since Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2009 and recreational marijuana this year, Interstate 80 has become even more of a pot pipeline.

Deuel County Sheriff Adam Hayward, where I-76 joins I-80 near Big Springs, told the Omaha World-Herald there have been 30 felony marijuana cases involving Colorado pot so far this year, compared to about 35 for the entire year last year.

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, a Republican candidate for governor, said he won't rule out taking Colorado to court over the issue, although legal experts say reaching a solution that way is a long shot.

Whether mind- or mood-altering substances are legal or not, it's up to individuals, and the society which produces them, to become balanced, productive citizens who are comfortable living and working in reality, not some substance-induced fog.