Absinthe (WormWood) Making a comeback in US and Europe - linked to convulsions, madness, and death.

California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs ^

[chance33_98]

Absinthe

After a long absence, the liqueur absinthe is making a comeback. A recent news report noted that the

wormwood-based liqueur, long declared illegal in most countries, has become popular in underground

circles in Europe and the United States. The drink was popular among artists and writers at the end of

the 19th century and has been linked to convulsions, madness, and death.

Absinthe is an anise-flavored liqueur distilled with oil of wormwood, a leafy herb. Absinthe also

contains flavorful herbs such as hyssop, lemon balm, and angelica. Wormwood is

Artemisia

absinthum

. The active ingredient is thujone, a neurotoxin. The drink is distinguished by its blue-

green clarity, due to its chlorophyll content. It was traditionally served with water and a cube of

sugar; the sugar cube was placed on an "absinthe spoon" and the liquor was drizzled over the

sugar into the glass of water. The sugar helped take the bitter edge from the absinthe; when

poured into the water, the liquor turned milky white.

Wormwood had been used medicinally since the Middle Ages, to exterminate tapeworms in

the abdomen while leaving the human host uninjured and even rejuvenated by the experience.

At the end of the 18th century, the herb became recreational as people discovered they could

get high from it. However, it was unacceptably bitter.

An undocumented distiller found a solution by inventing absinthe, which delivered both the

herb and alcohol in a beverage with a flavor resembling licorice. The most well-known maker of

absinthe was distiller Henri-Louis Pernod. Absinthe became popular among the cultural

community in 1890s Paris, with Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Verlaine, and Oscar Wilde among its

most ardent imbibers.

Side effects from consumption of wormwood include renal failure, convulsions, involuntary

evacuations, abnormal respiration, and foaming at the mouth. Patients hospitalized in Paris for

absinthe intoxication were noted to suffer from seizures, chest effusion, reddish urine, and

kidney congestion.

Around the turn of the century, it was noted that heavy absinthe users had a propensity toward

madness and suicide. By the 1910s absinthe became banned in the Western world, along with

opiates, cocaine, and cannabis. In the United States, it became banned in 1912. Interestingly,

however, the current U.S. Customs restrictions on the importation of absinthe only date to

1958. Absinthe is still available in Spain, Portugal, and the Czech Republic, where it is quite

trendy among patrons of bars and coffeehouses. It is also legal in Britain and reportedly is

available in Andorra and Denmark.

After absinthe was banned, imitations containing anise and other legal herbs in place of

wormwood, appeared. The most well known is Pernod, which is very much like absinthe but

without the wormwood. The similarity is only in color and taste; Pernod is without the mind-

numbing characteristics of absinthe. The practice of adding aromatic bitters to cocktails also

derives from a nostalgia for contraband wormwood.

Source:

WHAT IS ABSINTHE? And what does it have to do with New Orleans?

by Vicki Richman

and Chuck Taggart

---

Page 3

2

Facts About Absinthe

The word absinthe is derived from the Greek absinthion, meaning "undrinkable."

Wormwood is mentioned in the bible a dozen times, including the Revelation of St. John:

"And the third part of the waters became wormwood, and many men died of the waters

because they became bitter."

The Russian word for absinthe is chernobyl.

Leaves of the absinthe plant are an effective deterrent to vermin. Thomas Tusser, in his

1577 book

July's Husbandry

, notes "Where chamber is sweeped, and wormwood is strown,

no flea for his life dare abide to be known."

Pliny the Elder reported that the champions of Roman chariot races were given a cup of

absinthe soaked in wine as a reminder that even victory has its bitter side.

The "Purl" of Tudor England was a drink composed of hot ale and wormwood. Samuel

Pepys mentions drinking it in his diaries.

At the turn of the century, the Pernod Fils distillery in Pontarlier, France produced 30,000

liters of absinthe a day and shipped it around the world.

The Pernod plant was struck by lightning in 1901, causing an alcohol fire that raged out of

control for four days. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of burning absinthe were discharged

into the Doubs River, flavoring it with anise for miles downstream.

Celebrated absinthe drinkers included the painters Lautrec, Gauguin, Manet, Van Gogh and

Picasso, along with the writers Rimbaud, Verlaine, Oscar Wilde, Edgar Allen Poe and Jack

London.

Thujone, the principal active ingredient in absinthe, is chemically similar to THC, and is

thought to attach to the same receptors in the brain.

Source:

Absinthe, History in a Bottle

, by Barnaby Conrad III (1988, Chronicle Books)

[wardaddy]

It has never been claimed to have hallucinogenic properties even close to LSD, psilocybin, or mescaline. That is a myth. It may indeed have a slightly different effect than conventional liquor but from there it's a very large leap to 750 mikes of acid or a handful of shrooms or a few buttons of mescaline. Folks ought not get their hopes up...LOL.

[Koblenz]

(no, never had it, never will).

I drank it once. Didn't notice any type of high. It tasted pretty bad. So in summary, it tastes bad, it can lead to health problems (probably overstated) and it's illegal. So I don't see why people like it.

[wardaddy]

Maxim writer??...I love the mag but isn't that sort of an oxymoron. It's mostly eye candy and fluff pieces. Like Cosmo or Glamour for horndogs.

[2Trievers]

Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917)

The Absinthe Drinkers (Posed by Ellen Andrée and Marcellin Desboutin (1876)

Oil on Canvas
36¼ x 26¾" (92 x 68 cm)
Musée d'Orsay, Paris

[A.J.Armitage]

And one tip, dearie; anyone who calls someone else "dear" in a thread like this, makes themselves look like an arrogant know-nothing.

Of course, it's hard for her not to look like an arrogant know-nothing, because that's just what she is. It actually rather amazing how many topics she's got spurious facts on.

I have a hard time taking anyone's comments on absinthe who thinks there's such a thing as absinthe without wormwood seriously.

[Billthedrill]

Side effects from consumption of wormwood include renal failure, convulsions, involuntary evacuations, abnormal respiration, and foaming at the mouth.

Sounds like fun to me, but it's kinda expensive. I get the same effects from reading Molly Ivins or Helen Thomas.

[wardaddy]

You should by all means do your own research and experimentation and come back and let us all know first hand.

Nopardons is not arrogant. She is a very bright FReeper who doesn't tolerate naivete well. She like I am concerned that more than a few young FReepers wish to believe that this rediscovered intoxicant is really safer than supposed. I along with her hope that those of you guys tempted to take the plunge would at least be cognizant of the risk and exercise caution. That's all.

[cicero's_son]

Like Cosmo or Glamour for horndogs."

Have you actually seen a copy of Cosmo or Glamour recently? They are for horndogettes.

[Prodigal Son]

Well, comparing it to those things is a useless exercise for me anyway- I've never done any of those drugs. I had an uncle that was into everything under the sun though, he used to describe his experiences pretty thoroughly. No, I was just wondering because I knew there was this connection with Pernod and I wanted to know if Pernod still has the substance in it. I drank Pernod often in France and never experienced anything more than a glass of wine would have left me with.

I've had morphine given to me after breaking my leg, so I can understand, I guess, how someone could get to liking that effect. That covers heroin, opium smokers and what not. I'd never do either of those things because if it felt better than morphine... Well, I'd be better off not having to fight that temptation if you know what I mean. I just don't have anything, any frame of reference to compare this absynthe to. Maybe- I've taken percocet and drank a bottle of wine(actually while I was recuperating from the above mentioned broken bone)- that left me feeling profoundly... Nonaction-oriented, really, really relaxed. Would you reckon this stuff would be like that?

[Anotherpundit]

She's obviously arrogant, because she assumes that those who disagree with her are doing so out of naivete, rather than out of simple skepticism. I'm fully prepared to believe that absinthe is as harmful as everyone thinks -- but I want to see proof, and I don't consider hundred-year-old studies to be sufficient to establish a modern standard of proof.

My basic opinion is that if you want to make something illegal -- a gun, a drug, a brand of car, whatever -- there should be clear, credible evidence that it is in fact a net harm to the public. THere may have been such evidence, by the standards of the time, when Absinthe was made illegal, but medical science has advanced considerably in the past century, and it seems like re-examing the stuff might be a good and timely idea, because the science that backed up the absinthe ban is likely to have become outdated.

Stop worrying about how "naieve" other posters are -- an inherently arrogant position, as it inherently assumes you know better than other posters. If nopardons is right, she doesn't need you to defend her, her posts will stand on their own.

[weegee]

Much less potent than any of those.

I've heard tell that there are hallucinagenic properties to tequilla in sufficient quantity.

I saw Absinthe as the first wave of prohibition. The temperance advocates played up the horror stories for decades trying to outlaw demon liquor.

[NC_Libertarian]

I know! Let's declare war on it! :)

[wardaddy]

My wife occasionally buys glamour for the make-up section. The articles in there are leftie urban fluff written by Sex In The City types who wish they were men and celebrate the right to abortion. It's monolithic trash in my view.

[NC_Libertarian]

BTW, you can EASILY get absynthe in the U.S. by mail order. F*** the law, it has no meaning.

[wardaddy]

Opiates would be much preferred to me for an addiction should I choose to have one over alcohol. They are of course not harmless either but do indeed have a serious and effective medical purpose.

[weegee]

So in summary, it tastes bad, it can lead to health problems (probably overstated) and it's illegal. So I don't see why people like it.

"and it's illegal" - forbidden fruit. It carries an artistic "mystique". Do authors drink mint julips in this day and age?

The tour book I had for Czech Republic said that it tasted like alcoholic shampoo; they didn't miss the mark.

[wardaddy]

As I stated before, if you are indeed skeptical of the evidence against Absinthe, I suggest you conduct your own study and please by all means get back to us.

If you wish to try to shift this thread to an Anti-WOD thread, you will have to find someone besides me to engage you.

Good Day.

[Redcloak]

Ya beat me to that Degas!

I suppose that the Drug Warriors will now want to ban wine glasses as "drug paraphernalia".

[AppyPappy]

You guys could make a drug thread out of dog show.

I grow Wormwood and nothing will touch it. Deer, bugs, nada. I wouldn't get drink it with a gun to my head.

[chance33_98]

You guys could make a drug thread out of dog show.

Now that would be entertainment!