HEALTH experts are warning a high-strength boutique liquor readily available in bottle shops could be used in Jackass-style drinking games - with deadly results.

The Polish spirit drink Spirytus Rektyfikowany has a 95 per cent alcohol content and features in YouTube stunts with young people sculling it from the bottle, downing it in drinking competitions and even setting their breath on fire with it.



One 500ml bottle of Spirytus Rektyfikowany equals 38 standard drinks, more than double the potentially lethal dose for an average adult, but it is available for around $60 off the shelf at Dan Murphy's stores and through internet distributors.



The spirit is intended to be used for medical purposes or making liqueurs, and Dan Murphy's insists that the product is a low-seller that is mainly sold to the Polish community "for their traditional and cultural use''.



But alcohol and drug experts warn young people could use it for competitive drinking, endangering themselves and others. Bottles of the potent liquor have started appearing at parties in Brisbane.



National Alliance for Action on Alcohol co-chairman Professor Mike Daube said it was "amazingly irresponsible'' for stores to sell the liquor, which had the potential to cause serious damage to drinkers or even kill them.



"I think the consequences could be catastrophic,'' Prof Daube said.



"It really sounds like the sort of product that absolutely should not be on the shelves.''



Prof Daube said the extreme nature of the product could appeal to young binge drinkers, and putting the product next to normal spirits could endanger people who did not read the label properly.



Queensland Alcohol and Drug Research and Education Centre director Professor Jake Najman said the Polish spirit was a "recipe for disaster'', and he urged retailers not to stock such high-concentration liquors.



"Essentially what they're going to be doing is injuring and killing people with a product like this,'' he said.



"This is something of enormous concern, and we'd be wanting people to think about their community obligations.''



But a spokeswoman for Dan Murphy's said the store sold only about one bottle of the spirit per store a week.



She said the YouTube clips were all of people in overseas countries and the company's sales data did not indicate that there was widespread use by young people in Australia.



Should this alcohol be so easy to access? Email yournews@the sundaymail.com.au or write to us at GPO Box 130, Brisbane, 4001.

goughan@newsqueensland.com.au





Originally published as Warning over deadly spirit drink