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Lawmakers Want Second Chance To Ban Quick, Low-Carb Drunk Machine
POSTED: 3:58 pm EST January 10, 2006
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A bill aimed at banning alcohol vaporizers, which allow people to breath in the booze to get drunk rather than drink it, was resurrected Tuesday by a House committee.
The measure (HB 95), similar to the proposal that failed in the 2005 Legislature, zipped through its initial test in the House Business Regulation Committee on a 17-1 vote with only Republican Baxter Troutman of Winter Haven dissenting.
House Sponsor Bob Henriquez, D-Tampa, conceded that alcohol vaporizers haven't become a big issue -- yet.
"Where you see the proliferation is through sales on the Internet to college kids," Henriquez said, adding the attraction is apparently being able to get high without absorbing the calories or suffering a hangover the next day.
Henriquez, however, admitted he had no data on how many machines had been sold in Florida or were being used.
"I've never even heard of this," Troutman said. A similar proposal (SB 1154) is being sponsored in the Senate by Melbourne Republican Mike Haridopolos.
The bills would make it a first degree misdemeanor for selling the device which oxygenates mixes spirits, liquor or alcohol with pure oxygen or other gases to produce a vapor for inhalation by users seeking a quick high. An individual previously convicted of the offense within the past five years would be subject to third degree felony penalties.
Anyone buying or using such a device would be subject to a $250 fine, including those who already have one.
The tabletop devices are about half the size of a toaster oven. They are connected to a tube about twice as big as a garden hose.
The alcohol then goes through a foot-long inhaling device, into an inhaler about three inches in diameter and then a tube small enough to fit in the mouth.
The committee also unanimously approved a measure sponsored by Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, that repeals a requirement that a stand-alone bar submit a report prepared by a Certified Public Accountant every three years to prove they are complying with the 10 percent threshold on food sales in areas where smoking is allowed.
The bill (HB 31) would instead require the individual bar owners submit an affidavit to the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco in the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Lobbyist Curt Kiser, representing the American Cancer Society, said he had no immediate problem with the proposal but cautioned the committee to "please don't let the bill become a mechanism for other exemptions."