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Page 13 of 15
Is Absinthe legal in the United States?
Yes, conditionally.
While there is no law that prohibits absinthe by name, any drink that
contains in excess of 10ppm of thujone is prohibited from being
imported into, or produced for sale and consumption in, the United
States. This is the same as the European Union limit for products labeal as absinthe.
NOTE: No regulations have changed. Prior to May 2007 it was not widely
known that the tolerance for official method of thujone analysis—10ppm—is such
that it effectively legalizes many European absinthes. This was a major
breakthrough. It also means that a number of pre-ban era absinthes
would be legal in the US by modern standards, including the definitive
premium absinthe brand, Pernod Fils.
Most of the laws that impact absinthe in the US are out-dated,
convoluted, un-evenly enforced and misunderstood, even by those charged
with enforcing them.
Due to recent changes in the understanding of these regulatory issues,
genuine absinthe is once again reappearing legally in the US market.
Making your own:
Distilling any alcohol in the US without proper authorization is a
federal offense that is enforced by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and
Trade Bureau (TTB). They are quite serious about this. Heavy fines,
seizure of property and/or imprisonment may result. We do not
encourage this.
Possession of imported absinthe:
Absinthe is not a scheduled controlled substance and is not legally
considered a drug or narcotic (as in fact, it is not). There are no
laws specifically prohibiting possession or consumption of absinthe in
particular. Since importation of non-FDA compliant absinthes is
prohibited and there are no proper means for ensuring duties or taxes,
any non-FDA compliant absinthe in the United States is untaxed liquor,
which is illegal. As such, technically, it can be seized during
transit or from your home, with a warrant. Seizure in transit is
fairly uncommon, but not rare.
So what exactly is illegal about it?
Absinthe was specifically banned for commercial production and sale in
the US in 1912 by the US Department of Agriculture in Food Inspection
Decision 147 (FID 147) under the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. This
act eventually opened the way to establishing the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). The FDA at some point re-codified FID 147 in the
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which prohibits thujone in
finished foods, but does not specify absinthe by name. This
effectively legalized absinthe, although at the time it was
conventional wisdom that absinthe contained far too much thujone to
ever consider bringing it back to the market.
As stated earlier, thujone is not a drug. The FDA simply considers it
to be an unsafe and unacceptable additive to alcoholic beverages and
other foods. This position is based on decades of misinformation about
greatly inflated estimates of the quantity of thujone to be found in
authentic absinthe and the role of thujone in the absinthe phenomenon
of the Belle Époque.
In the United States:
• Any alcoholic beverage or finished food item offered for sale must
be “thujone-free,” which for regulatory purposes means below 10 parts
per million.
• This does not apply to dietary supplements and whole herbs.
• Some foods apparently may contain higher levels of thujone so long
as it's not from Artemisia species. Common sage and tarragon contain up
to ten times the amount of thujone that A. absinthium does, but do not
appear to be on the FDA's list of restricted additives and in fact
appear on the GRAS list (Generally Recognized As Safe).
Importation:
Enforcing the FDA and TTB regulations is a matter for the US Customs
Dept. when it comes to bringing absinthe into the country.
Non-compliant, improperly imported European absinthe for individual
consumption is simply “prohibited merchandise”, not smuggled drugs. If
absinthe is discovered in luggage being brought into the US it will
sometimes be confiscated and “destroyed”. It's in the same category
with European candy, which might use non-FDA-approved colorings.
If absinthe is discovered by Customs or the US Postal Service (USPS)
being shipped to the US via the mail, it will be seized and the package
will be resealed (without the absinthe) and delivered to its intended
recipient along with a polite letter stating that the absinthe had been
found and seized and you may elect to contest the seizure (you have no
chance of winning this), have them “destroy” it, or return it to the
sender.
In any of these cases, you will not be fined, arrested, jailed or
harassed; you'll just have your booze stolen from you by well-meaning
but under-informed public servants. They're only doing their job.
Some overseas vendors will replace or resend absinthe seized in
shipping, but you'll still have to pay the shipping charges, which are
often as much as the cost of the absinthe itself. See our Absinthe
Laws Page.
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The Wormwood Society is a non-profit educational and consumer advocacy
organization focused on providing current, historically and
scientifically accurate information about absinthe, the most maligned
and misunderstood drink in history.
