A controversial new device that allows drinkers to inhale alcohol without the effects of drunkenness or hangovers has been introduced in the United States, media reports said on Sunday.
The Alcohol Without Liquid vapouriser, or AWoL, allows drinkers to inhale alcohol fumes combined with pressurised oxygen, leaving them euphoric, but not drunk.
A safety feature of the design, claim the British manufacturers, limits users to one shot per 20 minutes. They also say the device has been a hit with clubbers at home since its launch in February.
Kevin Morse of Spirit Partners, the United States distributors of AWoL, said the device offered a low calorie, low carbohydrate method of consuming alcohol by allowing it to enter the bloodstream through the lungs.
”I do think the public is ready for this,” said Morse. ”Alcohol has been consumed for two or three thousand years. This is just a new way to try it.”
A Manhattan bar launched the vapouriser this weekend to a positive response but owners were forced to carry out the demonstration with soft drinks owing to the difficulty in determining its legality.
One potential AWoL user, Peter Rosegarten (37) claimed the oxygen made him feel lightheaded. ”I would do this because I’m a nondrinker, but I’m looking for a buzz,” he commented.
Meanwhile, New York Senator Carl Kruger has pledged to ban the machine saying ”it is a disaster waiting to happen” and ”a new form of pipe smoking”.
He fears that the device ”could encourage underage drinking and drunken driving”.
The issue has been referred to the State Liquor Authority.
However, Morse denies the device would help users beat a drunk driving charge warning that ”one of the ways that alcohol leaves the body is through the mouth and therefore the alcohol will definitely register on the breathalyser.”
The machine costs $3 000 for the two-user model and $3 700 for the four-user model. – Sapa-DPA