It all started when Mark Phillips wanted to be able to raise a glass during a hike, a day on the water or a camping trip. But water wasn't going to cut it for Phillips, who also found it cumbersome to carry beer, wine or hard alcohol when traversing the countryside.

So he spent a year coming up with a recipe to make powdered alcohol that he could mix with water wherever his travels took him. He called it "Palcohol."

Today, 34 states have banned the substance out of fear that underage drinkers could get a hold of the powder, or that drinkers could smuggle it into events, sprinkle it on others' drinks or snort it.

Lawmakers "are ignorant about the positive uses of Palcohol, and they're caught up in the hysteria about the imagined and unfounded misuse of powdered alcohol," Phillips said in a YouTube video defending his product.

'Very easy to conceal'

Texas lawmakers will decide this year whether to join those states in banning the substance, as Phillips and at least one more producer of powdered alcohol prepare for a spring 2017 release.

"Powdered alcohol WILL come to Texas, whether it's legal or brought in illegally," Lynne Barbour, spokesman for Palcohol-producer Lipsmark LLC, wrote in an email. "By legalizing it, Texas can control the distribution to keep it out of the hands of underage drinkers as well as receive significant tax revenue. Banning it will make it easier for kids to get it and will cost your state millions."

The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved Palcohol in March 2015 as state legislatures were scrambling to ban its sale before it could hit store shelves.

Lawmakers here have begun filing bills to require powdered alcohol be regulated like other forms of alcohol, restricting sales to liquor stores. One such bill comes from state Rep. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, who said her goal is to keep the powder off-limits for kids. She said, though, that she's not opposed to adults concocting drinks with the powder flavored to create cocktails like margaritas and mojitos.

"It would be very easy for kids to carry this pack of Palcohol in their pocket, in their backpack, in their wallet, in their purse," said Alvarado. "It's very easy to conceal."

Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, proposed banning the substance in 2015 but later met with Ralph McMorris, owner of Galveston-based Lt. Blender, which sells bagged cocktail mixes. McMorris convinced him to yank the bill for the time being.

"So far, everybody's created this myth about the product, and really it's much safer than typical alcohol products," said McMorris, a war veteran who earned the nickname "Lt. Blender" because he was the only one in his unit who had the appliance while stationed in Vietnam.

Galveston product

McMorris turned his name into a business, selling pouches of mixers that could be mixed with booze and frozen for later use. He has since developed his own powdered-alcohol recipes, made of Maltodextrin derived from a tapioca plant. His plan is awaiting federal approval for the powder, which would be sold in a four-serving bag for around $15, before he can sell it in liquor stores as soon as next year. The alcohol content is around 10 percent alcohol by volume, he said, "less than most wines."

Nothing in state law bans the sale of powdered alcohol here, but the state has yet to receive a request to put it on the market, according to Chris Porter, a spokesman from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which oversees the alcohol industry.

Groups that work to prevent youth access to alcohol are worried that the powder will be too easy for young people to conceal and abuse due to its novelty.

"Now you have a product where young persons get a hold of it and adults don't even know what it is. How do you explain the dangers of the use of something that doesn't even look like alcohol," said Nicole Holt, chief executive officer of Texans Standing Tall, a group that wants to make access to alcohol, tobacco and drugs irrelevant to youth and teens.

The group had the same challenge educating people about the dangers of alcoholic energy drinks and e-cigarettes, she said.

Teens' drinking habits

More than one in five Texans in grades 7 to 12 say they have used alcohol in the past month, according to the most recent Texas School Survey from 2014. More than half of youths in that age group said they have used alcohol at some point, and nearly 14 percent said they have engaged in binge drinking, defined as consuming five or more drinks in one sitting for boys and four or more drinks for girls.

McMorris said he plans to lobby lawmakers to make sure they understand how the drink works.

"I want go up there," McMorris said. "I want to show it to them. I want to let them taste it, and let them kick it and let them do what they want to with it."