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Title: Your Right to Absinthe
Source:
American Institute for Economic Research
URL Source: https://www.aier.org/article/your-right-absinthe
Published: Jul 24, 2019
Author: Jeffrey A. Tucker
Post Date: 2019-07-30 11:01:12 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 1495
Comments: 4
Albert Maignan-La muse verte Poet succumbs to the green fairy
You can’t believe the shock. I was sitting in a living room drinking absinthe with friends, and I said in passing something like:
“This is delicious but wouldn’t it be great if the original recipe with wormwood were legal again?”
My friend, the economist George Selgin, said; “This has wormwood in it just like the absinthe from the old days!”
I grabbed the bottle and looked at the ingredients. Sure enough, he was right! Printed right on the label was the word. Then I became worried that something terrible or wonderful was about to happen to me, that I would see green fairies, hallucinate that I was floating, and maybe cut off my ear.
It turns out that I was the victim of a 100-year old moral panic about wormwood that has absolutely no basis in fact at all. Wormwood has been used as a medicinal herb since the ancient world, and there is a great deal of legend surrounding the stuff, but there is zero evidence that it has any hallucinogenic properties at all!
What about the belief that it was banned? It was indeed banned, over most of the Western world since the late 19th century. But get this (which you probably already know but I did not): it was relegalized for import into the United States in 2007. Now there are micro-distilleries all over the country that make the real thing, the exact drink about which Oscar Wilde wrote:
After the first glass of absinthe you see things as you wish they were. After the second you see them as they are not. Finally you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world. I mean disassociated. Take a top hat. You think you see it as it really is. But you don’t because you associate it with other things and ideas. If you had never heard of one before, and suddenly saw it alone, you’d be frightened, or you’d laugh. That is the effect absinthe has, and that is why it drives men mad. Three nights I sat up all night drinking absinthe, and thinking that I was singularly clear-headed and sane. The waiter came in and began watering the sawdust.The most wonderful flowers, tulips, lilies and roses, sprang up, and made a garden in the cafe. “Don’t you see them?” I said to him. “Mais non, monsieur, il n’y a rien.”
Kind of makes you want to go out and buy a bottle right now. Fortunately you can, because your right to drink the stuff has been restored. The century-old moral panic is over. However, with that change, some of the cachet has been drained away from this yummy drink, which, as it turns out, is just a drink like any other: if you drink too much, you get drunk. Nothing special here.
The irony of the history here is that it was precisely the dire warnings, first issued in French medical journals in the mid 19th century, that created the vast demand for absinthe all over Europe and America. Dangerous drink? Bring it on. The British medical journals seemed to agree that absinthe was highly dangerous, citing this strange experiment from 1869:
The question whether absinthe exerts any special action other than that of alcohol in general, has been revived by some experiments by MM. Magnan and Bouchereau in France. These gentlemen placed a guinea-pig under a glass case with a saucer full of essence of wormwood (which is one of the flavouring matters of absinthe) by his side. Another guinea-pig was similarly shut up with a saucer full of pure alcohol. A cat and a rabbit were respectively enclosed along with a saucer each full of wormwood. The three animals which inhaled the vapours of wormwood experienced, first, excitement, and then epileptiform convulsions. The guinea-pig which merely breathed the fumes of alcohol, first became lively, then simply drunk. Upon these facts it is sought to establish the conclusion that the effects of excessive absinthe drinking are seriously different from those of ordinary alcoholic intemperance.
The Absinthe Drinker by Viktor OlivaWhoo hoo! You can imagine, then, why that generation of artists, poets, playwrights, and literary gadabouts immediately seized on this drink and caused it to be the most fashionable in the land, spreading the plague of absinthism far and wide. Paintings, poetry, music were written in homage to the great muse of the green fairy. No doubt that people believed it, just as Dumbo thought it was the feather that made him fly.
At the height of the absinthe mania in France, 5:00pm became known as “the green hour.” The french were drinking 5 times as much absinthe as wine. The French producers were shipping all over the world. It became the world’s most notorious drink.
Here we have a classic case: science speaks of danger, daring people jump on the trend, moralists get outraged, government acts. That is precisely the situation that lasted for 100 years until it became rather obvious that absinthe is just a normal liquor.
The reason it gained the reputation for making people insane – Vincent Van Gogh, for example – is that highly fashionable people were drinking far too much of the stuff. It was a classic fallacy: post hoc ergo propter hoc. A confusion of cause and effect. That was enough to effect a century of prohibition.
Here is another medical journal from 1873 about the vast multitudes of “victims of absinthe.”
Originally the only important ingredient in its composition, besides alcohol, was the essential oil of absinthium, or wormwood; and though, doubtless, this added something to the mischievous effects of the liquor, it would be impossible to trace to it, or to the other comparatively trivial ingredients, the more serious of the special results which are now observed to occur in the victims of absinthe. An analysis recently made at the Conservatoire des Arts shows that the absinthe now contains a large proportion of antimony, a poison which cannot fail to add largely to the irritant effects necessarily produced on the alimentary canal and the liver by constant doses of a concentrated alcoholic liquid. As at present constituted, therefore, and especially when drunk in the disastrous excess now common in Paris, and taken frequently upon an empty stomach, absinthe forms a chronic poison of almost unequalled virulence, both as an irritant to the stomach and bowels, and also as a destroyer of the nervous system.
Science has spoken. What can you do but ban it? That didn’t happen until 1915 (the same few years in which every terrible trend in politics happened, from income taxation to central banking). By then, the drink became associated with elaborate rituals that survive to this day, such as the slow-drip fountain that pours over a special steel spoon that holds a sugar cube. So far as I can tell, the ritual is entirely for show (if you want a bit of sweet in your drink, just add simple syrup) but it's also enormously fun to reenact the faux-decadence of the absinthe generation. Even now, Amazon offers many absinthe fountains, most in the Victorian style of course.
The war on absinthe – this won’t surprise you – created the opposite of its intended effect. It raised the status of the drink and created a completely unwarranted hysteria in both directions: overconsumption followed by bans. Can you think of anything else, perhaps, that has fit that general model? Marijuana perhaps? Liquor in general? Tobacco? Politically incorrect speech?
Bans stemming from moral panics never seem to end, and people never seem to learn from this classic example. But in this case, glory be, the bans gradually came to an end. We’ve lived a full twelve years of absinthe freedom. And sure enough, with that freedom has come a bit of blase attitude toward it. When I ordered it last night, the bartender had to hunt for 10 minutes to find the bottle.
There is surely another lesson here. My own prediction is that once marijuana becomes universally decriminalized it will at that moment become far less fashionable than it has been for 40 years.
It’s my habit, and maybe it should be yours, to celebrate every bit of freedom we gain back from the armies of authoritarians who wield the power of the state to improve our lives. It took one hundred years, but they finally got their mitts off this one market.
To me, this merits a visit from the green fairy as soon as possible. Raise that glass to the freedom to choose, even to hallucinate.
Poster Comment:
The war on absinthe – this won’t surprise you – created the opposite of its intended effect. It raised the status of the drink and created a completely unwarranted hysteria in both directions: overconsumption followed by bans. Can you think of anything else, perhaps, that has fit that general model? Marijuana perhaps? Liquor in general? Tobacco? Politically incorrect speech? (3 images)
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A Puritan crusade based on a 19th century moral panic, all without any scientific foundation?
Sounds a lot like our modern medical establishment.
#2. To: Deckard (#0)
You can’t believe the shock. I was sitting in a living room drinking absinthe with friends, and I said in passing something like:“This is delicious but wouldn’t it be great if the original recipe with wormwood were legal again?”
My friend, the economist George Selgin, said; “This has wormwood in it just like the absinthe from the old days!”
I grabbed the bottle and looked at the ingredients. Sure enough, he was right! Printed right on the label was the word. Then I became worried that something terrible or wonderful was about to happen to me, that I would see green fairies, hallucinate that I was floating, and maybe cut off my ear.
I hate to break it to you, but U.S. regulated Absinthe is sort of like CBD. The psychoactive ingredient (thujone) is removed. It's like drinking O'Doul's to get drunk, or decaf coffee for some extra pep. The good stuff is not allowed to be manufactured in, or imported into, the U.S.
https://www.ttb.gov/industry_circulars/archives/2007/07-05.html
ATF Circular
Department of the Treasury
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
Industry Circular Number: 2007:5 Date: October 16, 2007
Use of the Term Absinthe for Distilled Spirits
To: Beverage Distilled Spirits Plants, Importers, and Others Concerned.
PURPOSE
This circular explains the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s (TTB) policy regarding the use of the term "absinthe" on labels of distilled spirits products and in related advertising material.
BACKGROUND
Generally, absinthe, or absinth, is a high alcohol content, anise-flavored distilled spirits product derived from certain herbs, including Artemisia absinthium, or wormwood. Wormwood usually contains the substance thujone, which is purported to have hallucinogenic or psychotropic effects. Absinthe was popular in the late 19th century and early 20th century, particularly in France, and was often portrayed as an addictive and psychotropic beverage due to the presence of the substance thujone.
TTB and its predecessor agencies have rejected applications for certificates of label approval (COLAs) or proposals for labels with reference to absinthe because the agency frequently found that the proposed label was misleading or referenced drug use, or that the product was a health hazard.
Recently, TTB received inquiries about obtaining label approval for absinthe-related products and for the use of the term "absinthe" on COLAs. As a result of these inquiries, we are restating our position with regard to how the term "absinthe" may be used on labels and in advertisements.
TTB’S POLICY REGARDING THE USE OF THE TERM "ABSINTHE"
Thujone-Free.
We approve the use of the term "absinthe" on the label of a distilled spirits product and in related advertisements only if the product is "thujone-free" pursuant to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulation at 21 CFR 172.510. Based upon the level of detection of FDA's prescribed method for testing for the presence of thujone, TTB considers a product to be "thujone-free" if it contains less than 10 parts per million of thujone. However, should the FDA set a new standard for “thujone-free,” in accordance with 27 CFR 13.51, COLAs that are not in compliance with that revised standard will be revoked by operation of regulation.
Labeling and Advertising.
In addition to the requirement that a product be “thujone-free,” TTB applies the following guidelines in approving labels and reviewing advertisements:
- Since there is no class and type understanding, the term "absinthe" may not be used as the brand name or fanciful name, or as part of the brand name or fanciful name, because otherwise it would appear as a class and type designation. 27 CFR 5.42(a)(1).
- The term "absinthe" may not stand alone on the label; it must be accompanied by additional or dispelling information so as not to appear as the class and type designation. 27 CFR 5.42(a)(1).
- Any artwork or graphics on the label, advertising, and point of sale materials using the term “absinthe” may not project images of hallucinogenic, psychotropic, or mind-altering effects. 27 CFR 5.42(a) and 5.65(a).
- TTB will include the following qualification statement on all approved COLAs showing the term “absinthe” on a label: “The finished product must be ‘thujone-free’ pursuant to 21 CFR 172.510.”
Submission of Samples.
Domestic producers and importers of products using Artemisia absinthium, or other ingredients containing thujone subject to 21 CFR 172.510, must submit a sample to the Beverage Alcohol Laboratory for thujone testing prior to seeking label approval. You must submit a 750 milliliter sample of the finished product, along with a copy of your permit and the formula for the product. For screening purposes, the method we use to determine whether the product contains less than 10 parts per million of thujone, is a liquid-liquid extraction – GC/MS method. We have posted more information on this method at http://www.ttb.gov/ssd/screening.shtml.
For information on the submission of samples and regarding laboratory analysis, please contact the Scientific Services Division by:
Mail:
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
National Laboratory Center
Beverage Alcohol Laboratory
6000 Ammendale Road
Ammendale, MD 20705Phone: (240) 264-1665
E-mail: Submit Inquiry
Imported Products.
Although TTB may approve the use of the term "absinthe" on the label under the standards outlined above, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is responsible for administering the laws and regulations regarding the admissibility of merchandise into the United States. COLA approval by TTB does not constitute approval for admission into the United States. We have advised CBP of our position.
Questions.
If you have any questions about these labeling or advertising policies, please contact the Advertising, Labeling, and Formulation Division (ALFD). You can reach an ALFD Customer Service Specialist by:
Mail:
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
Advertising, Labeling, and Formulation Division
1310 G St, NW, 4th Floor West
Washington, DC 20220Phone: (202) 927-8140 or (866) 927-2533 (toll free number)
E-mail: alfd@ttb.gov
Sig
John J. Manfreda
Administrator
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
A Proposed Rule by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau on 11/26/2018
At page 61 of 273
Proposed § 5.149 sets forth a new standard of identity for Absinthe (or Absinth). Absinthe products are distilled spirits products produced with herbs, including wormwood, fennel, and anise. Under Industry Circular 2007-5, certain absinthetype products are now allowed in the U.S. market, but are generally classified as distilled spirits specialty products or liqueurs (if they meet the standard of identity for a liqueur). Under current TTB policy, the word “Absinthe” may not stand alone on the label; therefore, labels use multi-word names that include the word “Absinthe” (such as “Absinthe Vert” or “Absinthe Superieure”). TTB believes that consumers understand what absinthe is and that it is appropriate to set out a standard of identity for absinthe. The proposed standard reminds the reader that the products must be thujone-free under FDA regulations. Based on current limits of detection, a product is considered “thujone-free” if it contains less than 10 parts per million of thujone. Finally, TTB proposes to supersede Industry Circular 2007-5 in its entirety, without incorporating the requirement that all wormwood-containing products undergo analysis by TTB's laboratory before approval. TTB will verify compliance with FDA limitations on thujone through marketplace review and distilled spirits plant investigations, where necessary.
#3. To: nolu chan (#2)
I hate to break it to you, but U.S. regulated Absinthe is sort of like CBD. The psychoactive ingredient (thujone) is removed.
Currently, absinthe containing thujone for human consumption is still illegal in some countries. In the United States, Absinthe is not a controlled substance but its sale in bars and liquor stores is banned. Absinthe is however legal to purchase and possess in the United States.
Government is in the last resort the employment of armed men, of policemen, gendarmes, soldiers, prison guards, and hangmen.
The essential feature of government is the enforcement of its decrees by beating, killing, and imprisoning.
Those who are asking for more government interference are asking ultimately for more compulsion and less freedom.
#4. To: Deckard (#3)
Absinthe has been perfectly legal in the U.S. for over a decade, as long as the traditionally defining ingredient (thujone) is removed. Absinthe was the booze central to the movie Madame X, 1966 release.
The article is absolutely false with its basic claim:
It turns out that I was the victim of a 100-year old moral panic about wormwood that has absolutely no basis in fact at all. Wormwood has been used as a medicinal herb since the ancient world, and there is a great deal of legend surrounding the stuff, but there is zero evidence that it has any hallucinogenic properties at all!
Thujone may be better described as a convulsant rather than a hallucinigenic. The drug warrior attempt to dismiss traditional Absinthe as harmless is wrong, and the attempt to conflate it with marijuana is misplaced.
In days of old, mercury was ingested as medicine. There is evidence that Abraham Lincoln ingested mercury as medicine. That something was ingested as medicine long ago does not connote it was safe.Even these days, some advocate the ingestion of silver. At the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) at Fort Leavenworth, at the now-defunct old "castle," silver leached into the water. Inmates complained about turning blue from drinking the water.
https://www.drugs.com/npp/wormwood.html
Adverse ReactionsThe volatile oil thujone in wormwood produces a state of excitement and is a powerful convulsant. Repeated ingestion of wormwood may result in absinthism, a syndrome characterized by digestive disorders, thirst, restlessness, vertigo, trembling of the limbs, numbness of the extremities, loss of intellect, delirium, paralysis, and death.
Toxicology
Wormwood is classified as an unsafe herb by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of the neurotoxic potential of thujone and its derivatives; it is generally regarded as safe if it is thujone free. The safety of wormwood is poorly documented despite its long history as a food additive. Convulsions, dermatitis, and renal failure have been reported.
https://sites.evergreen.edu/plantchemeco/thujone-psychedelic-potent-cancer-treatment-or-poison/
Thujone is a terpene compound present in an infamous and well-used plant, Artemisia absinthium, or Wormwood, a source of medicine, drunkenness, and psychedelic experiences for centuries.Wormwood has been used globally to treat parasites, cancer, stomach issues, and more. In addition, thousands of people claim that they have experienced hallucinations after drinking Wormwood in a distilled, alcoholic beverage. Despite its history of being consumed, Wormwood does contain a toxic monoterpene, thujone, which can be fatal if ingested in large quantities.
https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+8144
Definition of pre-ban absintheThe drink to which we refer as "pre-ban absinthe" was the icon of the belle époque. When dealing with good quality absinthes, recipe books distinguished between absinthe Suisse, with an alcohol content of approximately 68–72% vol, absinthe demi-fine, with 50–68% vol and absinthe ordinaire, with a content of 45–50% vol. Absinthe suisse was considered the highest quality and consisted of pure herbal distillate, while in the other types, the distillate was diluted with ethyl alcohol. According to these widely ranging contents, these absinthes must have contained different concentrations of thujone.
A definition of absinthe was provided in Swiss law at the time of the prohibition of absinthe. According to this definition, every spirit drink, without regard to its method of production, that contains aromatic compounds of wormwood herb in combination with other aromatic compounds derived from plants such as anise and fennel, is defined as absinthe. Thujone was regarded as being the determining factor amongst the aromatic compounds in terms of detecting wormwood spirits.
[...]
Modern absinthe
Most absinthe brands available today contain mainly the same herbal ingredients and extracts as pre-ban absinthe. Absinthe produced within the European Union is limited in its thujone content to 35 mg/l (maximum limit for bitter spirits).
Top grade absinthe products are still manufactured according to traditional recipes, without the addition of dye or other additives. Some products are made of herbal distillates and are differentiated by a mild flavor. Because such products are colorless, they are sold as Blanche or La Bleue. Types with a lower alcoholic strength and added sugar are sold as absinthe-liqueurs. Independent of traditional recipes, many products sold nowadays are made with readily bought finished extracts of wormwood or other plants, which are blended with ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin. For the coloring artificial dye is used, especially mixtures of tartrazin (E102, FD&C Yellow No. 5) and patent blue V (E131) or brilliant blue FCF (E133). Inferior products contain no herbal extracts and are made solely by the blending of artificial flavors, coloring and ethyl alcohol.
In cases like this, sometimes even the macerated herbs are not distilled but only filtrated, diluted to drinking strength and bottled. These products have a strong pronounced taste of wormwood and a very strong, bitter taste. Further falsification is possible with the addition of extracts of other thujone-containing plants (e.g., Thuja occidentalis L., Salvia officinalis L.).
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/thujone
Wormwood oilCommercial wormwood oil typically consists of 33.1–59.9% ß-thujone. In perhaps the earliest formally recorded case, a male adult ingested “probably about half an ounce” of wormwood oil. Within minutes he was unconscious, convulsing, foaming at the mouth with his jaw clenched. After prompt medical intervention the man survived, but he could not remember taking the oil (Smith 1862). A 31-year-old man was hospitalized after ingesting 10 mL of wormwood oil. He had been found, by his father, in an agitated, incoherent and disoriented state. Paramedics noted tonic and clonic seizures with decorticate posturing (Weisbord et al 1997).Wormwood oil
https://www.sciencedirect.com/sdfe/pdf/download/eid/3-s2.0-B9780443062414000102/first-page-pdf
Wormseed oil is powerfully neurotoxic, and oral ingestion hascaused visible edema of the brain and meninges.
The commercial distilling process greatly reduces the amount of thujone to a safe level. This is done in Europe. It has a taste similar to licorice. When mixed with water, it becomes a milky color. European products similar to Absinthe are Sambuca (Italy), Pernod (France), Ouzo (Greece) and Anis (Spain). Many years ago, I personally sampled the high-test version of Sambuca. It had a little extra sumpin-sumpin.
Thujone in high dosage remains dangerous or deadly. The biggest danger is home made Absinthe. Bypassing the commercial distilling process can leave excessive thujone in the resulting liqueur, making it quite dangerous.
Observing that American Absinthe is legal for sale in America is rather like saying alcohol-free beer is legal for sale to minors.
Saying wormwood is safe is true only where the level on thujone is greatly reduced. While wormwood oil may contain 33.1–59.9% thujone, for American Absinthe, the limit is less than 10 parts per million, considered thujone-free as 10 ppm is the lowest concentration detectable.
Currently, absinthe containing thujone for human consumption is still illegal in some countries.
Importantly, the United States is one of the countries where where Absinthe with thujone is illegal.
In the United States, Absinthe is not a controlled substance but its sale in bars and liquor stores is banned.
Absinthe is not a controlled substance; thujone, the defining ingredient of traditional Absinthe is illegal. Conflating Thuone-free Absinthe with traditional Absinthe is like conflating regular beer with O'Douls. Drink O'Douls all night and you will not get a buzz.
Absinthe is however legal to purchase and possess in the United States.
And O'Doul's or Heineken 0.0 alcohol-free beer is legal to purchase and possess by minors. So is root beer.
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