
Ted Breaux, Absinthe distiller and tester says “I would have to consume about three liters of Absinthe at the European limit to have any clinically discernible effects from thujone, and I’d be long dead from the alcohol by that point.”Ībsinthe has now been redeemed and we know that it is no more harmful than any other strong spirit. Tests and studies on modern Absinthe and pre ban vintage Absinthe show that Absinthe only contains very small amounts of thujone, nowhere near enough to make you hallucinate even a little. If it is ingested in large amounts, then thujone can act on the GABA receptors in the brain, causing convulsions and spasms, but only in large amounts. Who knows what else the artists and writers were taking? It is said that Van Gogh mixed his Absinthe with turpentine and we know that he had been mentally ill since childhood anyway. Prohibitionists claimed that Absinthe was destroying France, it was leading to addiction and alcoholism and one politician famously argued that it Absinthe was not banned then half of the population would be employed in fitting the other half of the population into strait jackets! Absinthe was banned in France in 1915.Īlthough artists and writers claimed that the Green Fairy was their muse and that they got their weird and wonderful ideas from hallucinations from Absinthe, we now know that Absinthe does not make you hallucinate. The medical profession claimed that the chemical thujone, from wormwood, was just like THC in the drug cannabis and was psychoactive and could cause psychedelic effects. It soon surpassed wine and beer as the most popular alcoholic drink in France and this made wine producers, the Prohibition movement and the medical profession worry.Ībsinthe became associated with the Bohemian culture of Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge with its loose morals, and also with drugs such as heroin and cocaine which were being used in children’s medicines and drinks at the time. By the turn of the 19th century, Absinthe had gone from being a tonic to being an alcoholic beverage produced by Pernod Fils in their distillery in Pontarlier, France.įrom its humble beginnings as a medicine, Absinthe became a highly popular alcoholic beverage during the period known as La Belle Epoque, a golden age. It was invented by the legendary Dr Pierre Ordinaire in the late 18th century as an elixir or tonic for his patients in Couvet, Switzerland. Here is some information on Absinthe.Ībsinthe is a very strong liquor which is made by distilling herbs such as wormwood, fennel and aniseed with alcohol.


#Does absinthe make you hallucinate reddit how to#
It’s the drink of the Green Fairy that gives artists and writers inspiration, that makes you trip like cannabis – isn’t it? Does Absinthe really cause psychedelic effects? Now that Absinthe is legal again in many countries, people want answers to these questions and want to know how to tell real Absinthe make you hallucinate. Absinthe is famous for being the green drink that sent Van Gogh insane, that made him hallucinate, cut off his ear and eventually commit suicide.
