Why is absinthe illegal? Is it poisonous or something?

Answer 1

The herb wormwood that is used to make absinthe has a number of unusual properties, including the ability to induce halucinaitons. The main reason for it's legality is its potency. it is a syubstance that is not, I repeat NOT, to be drank straight, unless you have been drinking it for some itme and are used to its effects. The proper way to drink absinthe is diluted at a 3-1 ratio in water, slowly increasing the amount of absinthe in themix until you can drink it undiluted, but this takes several months in most people. Having spent time in countries where the substance is still drank on a regular basis, I am quite familiar with its effects. It is easy for those that don't have a tolerance for the drink to succumb to the ravages of alcohol poisoning. Also, it has an unusual taste, that many who first try it straight don't have much of an appreciation for. It has been compared to taking a copper penny, rubbing it with a file, then putting the penny under your tougue. It's the kind of taste that is just pallatabe enough that you want to keep drinking it to see if you're going to like it, and by the time that decision is made, you've had far more than you realized. I myself found that it was helpful not only in providing a deep sleep, but in brining some rather intersting and unusual experiences during that sleep.

So, the legality is base on the severity of its effects, even though there are over the counter medicinal products that do far worse with smaller doses. But then the FDA is funny that way.

Answer 2

Very good question... it's not poisonous. Wikipedia says this about importing it into the US:

The importation of Absinthe and any other liquors or liqueurs that contain Artemisia absinthium is prohibited." This runs contrary to FDA regulations, which allow Artemisia species in foods or beverages, but those that contain Artemisia species, white cedar, oak moss, tansy or Yarrow, must be thujone free. Other herbs that contain thujone have no restrictions. For example, sage and sage oil (which can be almost 50% thujone are on the FDA's list of substances generally recognized as safe.

Doesn't make much sense. It was originally banned about 100 years ago because people thought it made you crazy.

Answer 3

Drinkers of absinthe experience a double action intoxication. This intoxication combines the separate effects of strong alcohol and thujone. The alcohol produces a sedative effect in absinthe drinkers while the thujone is reported to cause hallucinations (both visual and auditory) as well as excitation.

Absinthe can have an effect that has been described as a "clarity" or "heightened state of mind".

Chemist and absinthe expert, T.A. Breaux describes it as a push-me, pull-you effect of the various herbs, some have a heightening effect while others have a lowering effect.

Answer 4

It isn't poisonous, it isn't hallucinogenic and it never was.

It does contain a small amount of thujone from grand wormwood. The FDA bans the sale of any finished food that contains thujone from grand wormwood (and a couple other plants). In their grand wisdom, common sage (exactly what you buy at the local store) can contain any amount of thujone, because apparently the FDA thinks a chemical coming from one plant is worse than the same chemical from another.

It would be like banning rum because it contains ethanol but allowing whiskey to contain ethanol and then claiming ethanol from sugarcane is somehow more dangerous than ethanol from grain.

It was originally labeled as dangerous and banned by prohibitionists based on poor science and propaganda.

Answer 5

It isn't illegal to own, it is only illegal to bring into the country, or make. You can buy it, have it imported, and drink it, assuming it gets through customs. It isn't poisonous and doesn't cause you to hallucinate, it just gets you drunk. There is thujone in it, but it doesn't cause you to hallucinate and isn't more of a poison than any other alcohol. Though alcohol itself is a poison.

Answer 6

It has something to do with the wormwood. Absinthe, the alcoholic drink with wormwood, has been banned from most countries due to the alarming amount of adverse effects of this habit-forming drink, including hallucinations and epileptic-like convulsions. As you've read above it is bad news when used in excess or by those poor souls who are addicted to it. I hope that his has helped you.

Answer 7

actually to the human body any alcohol consumed orally is a poison. Absinthe is double poison.

Answer 8

precise now real Absinthe isn't obtainable in the U. S. for its available hallucinogenic effects, there are substitutes that are obtainable in the U. S. that are meant to have the comparable style yet isn't made with laptop virus wood that's the element in question in real absinthe.

Answer 9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absinthe

Answer 10

Don't ask me. I've got a couple bottles of Pernod in my bar.
Yummers