Has absinthe been made legal in the U.S.?!
Has absinthe been made legal in the U.S.?
I went to a bar in downtown New Orleans that was serving absinthe. When I asked the bartender if it was the "real" stuff, she said yes. Another bar patron told me that they don't enforce it anymore but I found it hard to believe that a well known establishment would be openly serving something that is illegal. They had the bottles lined up and even the cold water drizzler set up on the bar. Does anyone know if there have been recent laws passed that allow absinthe to be sold legally in the U.S.?
Answers:
As far as I know, absinthe is not legal in the US, per se. However, it is regulated as a food, which means that possessing it IS legal. You just can't distill it. Most opinion suggests that the prohibition is seldom, if ever, enforced.
The real issue, which can be very difficult for a layman to decipher, is whether the "absinthe" has thujones in it--the active ingredient in what we think of as "real" absinthe. As a liqueur, absinthe is a witch's brew of herbs, sometimes dozens of them, which can vary widely from recipe to recipe. Wormwood is difficult to distill, and its flavor is easy (and much cheaper) to simulate with various artificial compounds. These compounds typically have none of the psychoactive effects associated with "real" absinthe...and some authorities wonder just how real those effects ever were.
The bottom line is that much of the absinthe you'll find doesn't actually have real wormwood in it, despite what the bartender or company rep might tell you. Instead, it's a high-margin drink for Baudelaire wannabes, the equivalent of selling 10-cent cups of Listerine for $10. What bar wouldn't sell as much of that as possible? So it wouldn't technically be illegal anywhere. Caveat emptor.
I might also add that a) laws in New Orleans are based on French, not English, canons of law, and are much different from legal structures in the rest of the US; and b) nobody in New Orleans has given a hoot about laws since the 17th century, even before Katrina.
Source(s):
See http://www.originalabsinthe.com/absinthe...
No, it's still not legal to make or import, and odds are that was not real absinthe. It was probably that bar's "hook" to keep customers coming in and interested.
It's a bad idea to take anything in a N.O. bar at face value.
no laws have changed, and I would be surprised if what they were selling was real.
There is fake stuff out there, so either the bartender was uninformed, or they did find an illegal source for it and were risking their liquor license by selling it.
Given the penalties for liquor violations and how much revenue could be lost in New Orleans by losing their license, I would guess that the bartender was uninformed.
nope, still illegal, dude...just a gimmick, most likely...
Absinthe is still restricted in the United States, but as a result of an old Food & Drug Administration law that prohibits distilled spirits derived from the Wormwood plant specifically containing a substance called Thujone (i.e. Absinthe). A brand that is made from a different species of Wormwood IS comercially available in the US: Absente.
http://www.absente.com/
I've tried both and don't care for either -- I don't particularly like the taste of anise/licorice.
As with many US laws restricting the 'big four' (drugs, alcohol, firearms and tobacco) there are loopholes that allow for exceptions, but in general if you are caught bringing Absinthe into the US for personal consumption, it is likely to simply be confiscated at US Customs. It is illegal to import it for resale or distribution.
no it is not legal in the US but places such as BevMo do sell very similar knock offs