Absinthe: Should the ban be lifted on it?

Question

Absinthe was banned in the US in the early 1920's, and is starting to come back in popularity. Should the US drop the ban?

Answer 1

Yes the ban should be lifted as it was based on questionable science. Currently the FDA ban is inconsistent. The US is one of the last countries to still ban absinthe.

Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation around absinthe. Such that it is poisonous beyond normal alcohol or that it causes people to hallucinate or that todays absinthe is toned down (in some cases products called "absinthe" aren't even absinthe, in other cases they are made from 100 year old recipes). Etc.

Currently the FDA bans products that contain thujone from wormwood. FDA reps have claimed thujone is toxic. Yet other products that don't contain wormwood (and a select group of herbs) are allowed to contain any amount of thujone and are considered safe. This would be like saying wine can't contain any ethanol produced from grapes because ethanol is poisonous, but you can make a 190 proof liquor from grain.

Modern scientific studies have shown absinthe is not dangerous or poisonous. Absinthe does not contain enough thujone to be harmful and ethanol even protects from a lethal dose of thujone. It was originally banned because of poor scientific research and a growing prohibitionist movement that latched onto absinthe. The wine producers in france also supported the ban as absinthe was hurting their sales.

See sources for more information.

Answer 2

The problem with Absinthe, or at least the problem was, was that if made incorrectly, it could cause death. Absinthe has become much more of a tourist attraction, and therefore much weaker in form in most cases. Therefore even if a ban on Absinthe was lifted, it would not be the original form to protect the "tourist" users who do not know the right way to use it.

Answer 3

the U. S. absinthes have under 10ppm thujone and a few have none. Thujone is bumped off using a chemical technique called carbon extraction and likewise by way of using chemotypes (mutants) of wormwood. real absinthe has something from 50-100mg thujone. the utmost is 100mg thujone in Europe (Century Absinthe) "using each and every little bit of tips I’ve processed over the final seven years, my calculations point out that high quality unique Pontarlier labels contained everywhere from 50-100mg/kg finished thujone. I do agree that i think that thujone isn't the only participant interior the secondary outcomes, even nevertheless I’m confident it performs an significant functionality. I even have some data that shows that the presence of different essences or maybe production techniques is influential" T.A. Breaux

Answer 4

We have a tradition of banning the unknown, unfamiliar, the exotic, the unusual, the unique. Absinthe is still made in Switzerland, France, Spain and Hungry. Some distillers still produce it in its original recipes and potency. Shhhhh, but you can still get it imported into the states. its a wachy situation where the DEA and the FDA have different regulations about the same thing. You can't import any substance for human consumption with "thujone" in it but thujone in topical applications are legally imported. Go figure! oh and don't get the wachy southern wormwood stuff, its faux!

Answer 5

Americans aren't responsible enough drinkers to be able to enjoy absinthe. Lift the ban and thousands will be dead within days. Maybe it's not such a bad idea...

Answer 6

why bother? that would be flipflopping and giving in to illegal substances and we would show that we are weak by doing that. If we dropped a ban on a substance that has been proven harmless what would be next? The domino effect might even make marijuana as legal as cigarettes and booze, and then where would we be?

Answer 7

Nope -- idiots use it in excess and end up killing themselves with it. It's illegal for a reason. I'm not stuffy old prude, but absinthe is bad stuff in the long run.

Answer 8

I don't thing Absinthe even contanis the wormwood anymore does it? If not, then nothng in it other than alcohol and harmless flavourings / colourants

Answer 9

Yeah

Answer 10

Yes!