Reporter: Bonnie Pintur
Police are concerned about a new way young people are consuming alcohol.
People are not actually drinking the alcohol, but they way they are consuming it could kill them.
They call it the vaportini because it is mostly young women who use it. Users can only buy it online. The vaportini lets consumers smoke the alcohol, which helps them avoid the calories associated with drinking. However, one thing that cannot be avoided is the high risk of alcohol poisoning.
In a town with close to 100 bars, Athens police say they have always had to worry about the affects of drinking alcohol. Now, they say they are worried about the effects of smoking it.
“You’re by-passing your body’s way of something that could be toxic. If you’re going to bypass the stomach, you’re putting yourself in a situation you might not recover from. You might even kill yourself,” UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said.
It worries Willaimson that these devices are found easily online. There is even a how-to video on the vaportini website.
But even with all the risks, people are still willing to try it, according to Williamson. “We’ve had other fads with alcohol over the years. I would have thought people would have never done that. But they did it.”
Vaporizing alcohol is legal, but it can and will show up on an alcohol test.
Williamson said, “When it comes to having a good time, my general phrase all the time is there’s nothing wrong with consuming alcohol as long as you do it in a responsible and moderate way.”
