# Political Correctness hits absinthe
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [June 20, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044 "2002-06-20T12:30:35Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Hemlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hemlock)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/1 "2002-06-20T12:30:35Z")
A fairly innocent - indeed, naive - thread on an overpriced, foul-tasting drink that does no more harm or good to you than vodka or tequila ([here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=121437) ) locked down as if it contained instructions, in simple Arabic, on manufacturing a dirty radioactive bomb.
What’s up? Has John Ashcroft become a moderator?
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### Author:  [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/2 "2002-06-20T12:36:47Z")
Um. Dunno how these things work in the States, but over here, _distilling_ spirits at home will get you into a fair amount of trouble with HM Customs and Excise.
Also, I would wonder at the quality control on home-made absinthe, prepared according to recipes pulled off the Internet. Didn’t people use to suffer fairly nasty side-effects from the stuff, back in the nineteenth century?
All in all, I suspect the mods may have made the right call on this one.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/3 "2002-06-20T12:36:49Z")
Yeah yeah, it’s a private board and they can do what they want, but it is a little silly to close threads about absinthe when it’s perfectly OK to open threads about other illegal subjects like marijuana. And god forbid you use the word MP3 in a thread title…
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### Author:  [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/4 "2002-06-20T12:44:09Z")
Um. Dunno how these things work in the States, but over here, _distilling_ spirits at home will get you into a fair amount of trouble with HM Customs and Excise.
Also, I would wonder at the quality control on home-made absinthe, prepared according to recipes pulled off the Internet. Didn’t people use to suffer fairly nasty side-effects from the stuff, back in the nineteenth century?
All in all, I suspect the mods may have made the right call on this one.
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### Author:  [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/5 "2002-06-20T12:52:55Z")
You’ve said it once, Steve; and damn me, you’ve said it again.
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### Author:  [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/6 "2002-06-20T13:04:29Z")
:: says nothing, but quietly writes “The Board hamsters” on a list headed “Up Against the Wall When the Revolution Comes”. ::
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/7 "2002-06-20T13:57:19Z")
There were actually two threads in two different fora; there’s a third thread in ATMB explaining why they were closed and now there’s a fourth one in GD on whether it should be legalised in the US.
If indeed it is a foul-tasting overpriced drink which does no harm or good, why the hell is everybody so eager to try it?
Oh, yes, ‘freedom’.
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### Author:  [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/8 "2002-06-20T13:59:09Z")
> [@](#):
>
> When considering why the temperance groups were so keen to ban absinthe in the last century, one must also consider the contribution of the high alcohol content to “absinthism”, as well as the flood of cheap and adulterated products in the market at its heyday (many unscrupulous absinthe manufacturers added toxic chemicals to the brew to achieve the green color and the “clouding” effect when the water is added, both of which came from wholly natural and herbal sources in proper absinthe). When someone consumes 20 or more glasses a day of a 120-150 proof alcoholic beverage (which were possibly contaminated with toxic metals as well), it can tend to have a deleterious effect on them.
[http://www.gumbopages.com/food/beverages/absinthe.html](http://www.gumbopages.com/food/beverages/absinthe.html)
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/9 "2002-06-20T14:06:43Z")
I don’t think anyone’s arguing that it’s good for you and chock full of vitamin C; the question is why discussions of it are locked down when one can freely discuss marijuana and vodka and tequila.
And YES, they can lock down whatever they want, it’s a private board. But there’s no harm in questioning what looks like inconsistancies, in the spirit of making a great discussion board even better.
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### Author:  [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/10 "2002-06-20T14:13:04Z")
Read the ATMB thread.
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### Author:  [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/11 "2002-06-20T16:59:34Z")
Yeees, but not no one discusses how to GROW marijuana and distill your own vodka, do they? Hm? I think the only inconsistencies here are the ones fabricated by wounded pride. Just take a deep breath and start brainstorming other ways to irritate the mods. 🙂
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### Author:  [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/12 "2002-06-20T17:11:50Z")
Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder. 😛
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### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/13 "2002-06-20T17:19:32Z")
I’m just wondering, in what sense is locking a post about absinthe politically incorrect?
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### Author:  [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/14 "2002-06-20T17:20:56Z")
I mean politically correct.
Or, in what sense is a post about absinthe politically incorrect?
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/15 "2002-06-20T18:04:11Z")
Absinthe makes the fart go “Honda!”
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/16 "2002-06-20T18:40:33Z")
Long ago, I was associated with a hardy band of psycho-pharmocological adventurers. Seeing reference to “absinthe” in the writings of French degenerates (which should have been ample warning in the first instance), we investigated. Tireless investigators, we were.
Absinthe, as you likely now by now, is made from wormwood, a spectacularly bitter herb. My buddy Bob (who is no longer referred to as the Carnivorous Petunia, especially if his kids are around) sent away for some essence of wormwood, which was apparently quite legal, as none of the FBI agents following us around ever said anything.
So: tea, hot water, a measured dram of wormwood essence, and there you have it.
Vilest taste ever. Makes dried peyote buds taste like strawberry shortcake. If you made tea out of plutonium, it would probably taste like this. If your Mamma had given you a spoonful of this as medicine, you have beaten her senseless with the spoon.
It’s that bad.
Some of you with a morbid curiosity will want to know how it stands “buzz-wise” (You know how you are. So do they).
Utterly forgettable. The night you pulled a No-Doz all-nighter for your Comp. Lit. final, bit more edgy.
How anyone can drink a liquer made out of this is beyond me. I refuse to accept that anyone would get drunk on it if Pine Sol is available.
On the other hand, people drink Coors, so maybe…
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### Author:  [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/17 "2002-06-20T18:50:49Z")
**Elucidator** , what you had was wormwood tea, NOT absinthe. Absinthe is sweetened and flavored with anise. The proper way to consume absinthe is to pour about two fingers into a glass, then add cold water poured over a sugar cube in a slotted spoon. It changes the color from cough syrup green to a light yellow, like chartreuse.
The taste is intense, bitterness and sweetness hitting your tongue in alternate waves. all infused with the herbal taste of anise (like licorice, only more delicate).
Sadly, the absinthe I had, bought in Great Britain, gave me no buzz at all.
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### Author:  [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/18 "2002-06-20T19:35:14Z")
Absinthe – it’s not a drug, its a hipster accessory. There’s nothing “hallucinogenic” about it, despite the hilariously flowerly language of the French cafe types. It’s strong booze with a heavy placebo effect on those susceptable to such things. And like most celebrated inebriants, it’s got a great ritual.
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### Author:  [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/19 "2002-06-20T20:48:15Z")
Didn’t Cecil do a column on it once? I think it is a hallucinogen. I may try to look this up (on my hideously slow computer).
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### Author:  [@EchoKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EchoKitty)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2002, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-correctness-hits-absinthe/115044/20 "2002-06-20T21:05:49Z")
Well, raise my rent. I stand corrected, sort of…
"Was the stuff really so bad? Many point to the ingredient wormwood (Artemisia absinthium), which contains the neurotoxin thujone. Thujone is chemically similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, and some speculate that the two compounds act on the brain in similar ways. Others say that even chronic absinthe drinkers couldn’t consume enough thujone to do real damage–you’d pass out in a drunken stupor first–and that the real culprit was alcohol.
These days it’s all pretty much academic–absinthe remains illegal in most places. It’s still made in Spain and the Czech Republic and can be sold in the UK. But the concentration of thujone in the modern product is much less than in the old days. If you’d rather avoid trouble with the law, you can buy Absente, which as you say is an absinthe substitute made with southern wormwood. Doesn’t sound like much of a deal to me–you’re not getting the genuine article, and it’s still highly alcoholic (110 proof). But maybe cirrhosis is a small price to pay to feel like Toulouse-Lautrec."
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