How dangerous is absinthe?

“We now know that the wormwood in absinthe contains far less thujone than once believed and that amounts are much too small to pose any health threat. Current thinking holds that wormwood isn’t at all dangerous, and that any ill-effects of absinthe are due to alcoholism, not to any specific brain toxicity associated with its use.”

Andrew Weil, M.D.

I’ve only ever had the US legal stuff. It also came with an absinthe spoon. The taste is somewhat vile, even with the sugar, but after a couple of glasses you won’t notice anymore.

As dangerous as alcohol, which is pretty much all that it is. That said, it’s quite enjoyable. The purported dangers are exaggerated. And other effects are unsolved as whether or not then even exist. I know that it is now believed by some who’ve studied absinthe that the dangers of absinthe were the poor safety precautions of some absinthe makers at the time, who would prepare absinthe in lead painted bathtubs or with unsafe chemicals. The artists who went mad were obviously either unstable already or licking their paint brushes.

Note to absinthe drinkers at there, don’t lick your paint brushes, it may cause you to trim your earlobe (and had that over to a prostitute named Rachel) if you a a manic depressive, are probably already drunk, and had a nasty fight with you’re “friend” Gauguin.

I’ve tried real absinthe in Europe.. a friend bought a bottle in Spain and several of us had a Girls’ Green Fairy night. We went to one’s husband’s bar, where we did the actual drinking (strainers and sugar), and then we went to dinner after.

The taste was okay, but herby and kind of licorice-y and I am not a big fan of licorice. I don’t think we drank that much, honestly, as the point was not at all to get wasted or anything. However, everything after that is a real blur. I didn’t hallucinate, nor did any of the other ladies. We did get very goofy and silly, but you could probably say that for alcoholic drinks in general.

I barely remember dinner. I remember we were sitting on a balcony, but I have no idea what I ate or any of the conversation. We lingered at the restaurant for too long and almost missed the last train back to our starting village. We ran, laughing our asses off through the dark streets toward the station. We made it!

That’s about all I can tell you. No one got sick, no one hallucinated, but it was pretty fun. I’d do it again.

Given that it can be upto 80–90% pure alcohol it can be pretty dangerous. I’ve seen people in acute liver failure after drinking a bottle in an evening.

I’ve tried it neat with the silly spoon and sugar but personally I think its better in a cocktail made by someone who knows what they’re doing and even then it wouldn’t be my fisrt drink of choice.

@Lightlyseared
A bottle? Holy hot-shit batman, that’s alot!

@everephebe yup and they only made it ‘cause some thoughtful person had filled in a donor card and been more careful with their liver.

Like @everephebe said, it’s as dangerous as any other drink.

Contrary to popular belief, absinthe won’t make you trip balls and see magical green fairies flying around your head that take you on a journey across time and space and make you into a true Oscar Wilde-esque psychonaut.

The real reason absinthe used to be dangerous is because cheapskate distillers of it would add lead and other chemicals to the mix to give it more “body” as a filler material.

not so bad…...if you love to be drunk…...

@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard actually acute alcohol intoxication can induce psychosis with hallucinations so absinthe can make you trip balls and see magical green fairies flying around your head that take you on a journey across time and space

@Lightlyseared
Yeah but in that case beer, wine, and all things fermented are just as guilty of that possibility. Drink responsibly period.

Okay, so absinthe is as dangerous as Everclear. As in, possibly dangerous if you’re an idiot, but probably not if you use your brain.

@everephebe true. But do the stronger the drink the easier it is to become intoxicated. Do you see now where the myths about absinthe originates from?

Darwinism at work? Only idiots who don’t belong in the gene pool would drink that much, no offense to your friend but still.

@MissAnthrope, and @everephebe yep. Part of absinthe’s allure is its mythos (green fairies and hallucinations). Drinking a shit ton of wine may give you psychosis or whatever, but that mythos isn’t generally associated with other drinks like it is absinthe.

If you like licorice and/or Jagermeister, then you will like absinthe. It is no more dangerous than any other liquor of such high proof (which is pretty high) unless you get the cheap stuff. Then again, any poorly distilled alcohol is dangerous, so be sure to get the good stuff and not the exotic equivalent of rotgut.

It will make you slightly hallucinate if you use enough wormwood. I made it myself before. It had a very licorice taste and was pretty bitter. The effects werent nearly as strong as I had hoped for, just trails on things and mild CEV. I wouldnt go through all the effort of making it again but I’d probably drink it if someone offered it to me.

I drink it every night before bed and the pink elephants hardly bother me anymore.

Like others have said, it’s as dangerous as any other drink with the same alcohol content (bearing in mind absinthe is not meant to be drunk straight from the bottle, but after ice water and sugar have been added)

I heard from one friend that absinthe gave them particularly bad hangovers, but I’m not sure if that’s really a danger or if it’s just very unpleasant.

I was an avid absinth drinker for many years….rule one, don’t, ake absinth yourself, rule two dnt drink absinth like any other alcahol, one to two shots in an evening should be fine, the best I can describe it is the best parts of being drunk and the best parts of being stoned without the bad parts of with either, enjoy in the comfort of your own home and let the creativity flow

I was a fan of sebor brand absinth

Never had a hallucination from absinth and I was a heavy avid drinker…