Why was absinthe illegalised?!
Why was absinthe illegalised?
I know that it was a popular drink from southern France/ northern Spain, somewhat akin to Pastis, flavoured with wormwood and of very high alcohol content. Many other drinks (eau-de-vie, schnapps, grappa) also are highly alcoholic, so what was special about absinthe exactly?
Answers:
There's nothing special about Absinthe that makes it illegal.
At the end of the 1800's, a blight wiped out most of Europe's vineyards...thus, the wine industry suffered greatly. Many people switched to absinthe and it grew wildly popular. The wine makers felt threatened and pressured the governments (mostly through money and family influence) to ban it. The ignorance of other influences (such as the previously mentioned syphilis, and mere alcoholism) was manipulated to sway the public into thinking it was a legitimate threat and thus it was passed.
Given the fact that there is nothing other than political motivations for the ban, many European countries are un-banning absinthe...Switzerland, most recently. They're cluing in on the fact that if it's legal, it can be taxed...you do the math.
The chemical 'thujone' is what has been claimed as absinthe's supposed "hallucinogen" and "neurotoxin" and whatever else may be wrong and justify its alleged evil qualities. Wormwood (artemesia absinthium) is the source of absinthe's thujone, but in reality, there is relatively little in the final product as it is distilled out during the production. Thujone is not illegal, its consumption is not illegal, and ironically, cooking sage contains a higher concentration than wormood does...go figure.
Read something with a little more meat than wikipedia (besides, anybody can cut and paste from it in lieu of actually giving an answer).
http://www.feeverte.net/
http://www.oxygenee.com/
toxicity, too much is poison
The wormwood caused brain damage . . .
cos daft ppl think they can drink lots of it, then die
Wasn't it made illegal? rightly so, in many an opinion-The damn stuff rots one's guts.
I heard that it would make you hallucinate like you were on acid or mushrooms
The wormwood in it supposedly makes you crazy. THe kind that u still can buy is absent this.
the brain damage issue is a myth
many people in late 19th century europe has syphillis
and drank absinthe in high quantity
to counter act the diseases painfull effects
it was outlawed in ignorance
but you can still find it online
a friend of mine makes his own
and it's dangerously delicious
I think it was the wormwood that "rotted people's brains"
It's very bitter and bitterness is often an indicator of toxicity
It's banned 'cos it makes Notts Forest fans 'ave fantasies above their station,lad!Dreams of winning the Euro cup again,lad.Fantasies of that nature are not required,lad!
Spurred by the temperance movement and wine makers' associations, absinthe was publicised in connection with several violent crimes supposedly committed under the influence of the drink. This, combined with rising hard-liquor consumption caused by the wine shortage in France during the 1880s and 1890s, effectively labelled absinthe a social menace. Its critics said that "Absinthe makes you crazy and criminal, provokes epilepsy and tuberculosis, and has killed thousands of French people. It makes a ferocious beast of man, a martyr of woman, and a degenerate of the infant, it disorganises and ruins the family and menaces the future of the country." Edgar Degas' 1876 painting L'Absinthe epitomised the popular view of absinthe 'addicts' as sodden and benumbed; émile Zola described their serious intoxication in his novel L'Assommoir.
In 1905, it was reported that a man named Jean Lanfray murdered his family and attempted to kill himself after drinking absinthe. The fact that he was an alcoholic who had drunk considerably after the two glasses of absinthe in the morning was overlooked, and the murders were blamed solely on absinthe. The Lanfray murders were the last straw, and a petition to ban absinthe in Switzerland was quickly signed by over 82,000 people.
Soon thereafter (in 1906), Belgium and Brazil banned the sale and redistribution of absinthe, although they were not the first. Absinthe was banned as early as 1898 in the Congo Free State (later Belgian Congo). In Switzerland, the prohibition of absinthe was even written into the constitution in 1907, following a popular initiative. The Netherlands came next, banning absinthe in 1909, followed by the United States in 1912 and France in 1915. Around the same time, Australia banned the liquor too. The prohibition of absinthe in France led to the growing popularity of pastis and ouzo, anise-flavoured liqueurs that do not use wormwood. Although Pernod moved their absinthe production to Spain, where absinthe was still legal, slow sales eventually caused it to close down. In Switzerland, it drove absinthe underground. Evidence suggests small home clandestine distillers have been producing absinthe since the ban, focusing on La Bleues as it was easier to hide a clear product. Many countries never banned absinthe, notably the United Kingdom, which eventually led to its revival.
There are two problems with absinthe: (1) The first problem is the fact that it contains wormwood, which can be poisonous, and (2) The fact that there is no quality control for the manufacture of absinthe that would regulate the amount of wormwood used in making it, so you never know if the bottle of absinthe you just bought has a lethal dose of wormwood in it.
I heard it was a narcotic.
But no one has quoted a web site.
That makes me believe,, well silly!!
Now that note about syphilis ????
People just will not accept that the American 1800's as sexual debauchery.
Totally destroying the genealogical records.
But medically there was more STD and early deaths than history will acknowledge. People died at home and were buried in the back yard.
Absinthe, in the early part of the 20th Century was much favoured by artists and general bummers not because of its alcoholic content, which is not more than other liquor but because of its flavouring - not unlike Pernod, aniseed - grand wormwood. Some thought that it addled the brain and consequently banned it - even in the States - but many Europeans still enjoy this style of drink - adding water to cloud the liquor-almost as a ritual- and found a new lease of life in the early 90's simply because the Eastern Europeans were not brain dead through ingestion. Me-I love it and only recently realiosed that you dilute with water!! I would die for aniseed.
I answered a question on this subject last week. It was about the so called absinthe now being marketed in this country.
"Proper" absinthe was French, as it's descendants (Pernod, Pastis etc.) still are, and was banned by their government during the 1930s. The French were big drinkers then, but it was a bit too much even for them!
The problem was the addition of the herb wormwood. I don't know the chemistry involved, but the bottom line was that the combination of it and the alcohol caused brain damage!
As I said last week, nobody owns the name...
ps. Watch that grappa! It's distilled from what's left after the wine grapes are pressed. Skins, pips the lot! It's full of congenerics.
heres a funny story for you .Some years ago one of my friends came out for a boat trip down the river with me we had half a bottle of absinth between us and several joints,he spent the entire time hanging over the side staring into the water as it passed along side whilst I was left to steer my ￡26,000 narrow boat some 11 miles to our berth whilst old ladies were waving at us from the river bank and thinking oooh how quaint.I hallucinated the whole way and it was AMAZING
er, its illegal is it?