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Page 6 of 15
Is Absinthe A Drug? Is It Poisonous? Is it Dangerous?
No, no and no. Contrary to popular misconception, absinthe is not
hallucinogenic, psychedelic, or narcotic. If you're looking for this
kind of experience you'll be very disappointed in genuine absinthe.
Neither thujone nor absinthe have a similar effect to marijuana or any
other illicit drug. Thujone has never been shown to be hallucinogenic
and is definitely not a psychedelic. The hallucinations suffered by
19th century “absinthistes” were those of severe chronic alcoholism and
dementia.
An often-neglected fact is that there were millions who enjoyed
absinthe regularly with no ill effects whatsoever. There were
thousands of cafés all over Paris. At its height of popularity, the
people of France consumed over thirty-six million liters of absinthe a
year. Everyone drank absinthe.
Unless one makes a study of it, one is unlikely to know just how
omnipresent absinthe was at its height of popularity. Let’s imagine
for a moment the scene in France at the turn of the century. There
were over 30,000 cafés in Paris alone. The drink of favor was
absinthe, which throngs of people congregated to imbibe every day at
5:00 p.m., giving this “Happy Hour” the nick-name l’Heure Verte,
the Green Hour. The boulevards fairly reeked of anise, stretching for miles. Are we really expected to believe that the majority of
the drinking population of France was sitting around in cafés every
day, hallucinating on absinthe?
During the decades preceding the ban of absinthe, alcoholism grew at an
alarming rate. As absinthe was in vogue at the time, very inexpensive
and extremely high in alcohol, it was easily abused by people with an
addictive predisposition.
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