Absinthe

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Me and another family member are having a bottle of absinthe brought in form the Czech republic. Does anyone here have any experience with true absinthe? Is it an halucigen?

Mostly I just want to try it for the taste and the effect, to see if it has a real kick or just some rumor thing, either way I will report back after christmas(we are getting it for x-mas, so long wait)

[manpower]

I saw a really good article about absinthe on wired today. You should read it, even though it doesn't directly answer your question.linky

I've had experiences with thujone, which is an active ingredient in absinthe, but never with the real stuff. It's a stimulant, and with alcohol makes you feel drunk but without the groggyness you might usually feel. Many people describe the absinthe drunk as 'lucid'.

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great article thanks!

[TimsterToo]

I sell a couple of different brands of Absinth in my bar in Amsterdam.

The Absinth they make nowadays is not the exact same as in the old days. They've lowered the content of wormwood which was responsible for the hallucogenic effect. Although it's pretty potent stuff you'd sooner die of alcohol poison then you would start to see green fairies.

[manpower]

No problem. I was wanted to post it here earlier but didn't really feel it was worth it's own thread, so i'm glad I you started this one.

Timster

Are there places in Europe to get "old" absinthe? Can a travelling American easily acquire it?

[TimsterToo]

I would go for the Czech republic. Prague is by itself a fantastic city to visit and I'm pretty sure you'd be able to find some stuff you might want to reconsider drinking [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

its truly the king of spirits.

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from wikpedia
It is best known as a component of the drink absinthe, as it is a component of natural oil of wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). Absinthe is illegal to sell but not possess in the United States, meaning it can be purchased by U.S. residents from internationally owned companies via the Internet. Essential oils with high concentration of thujone are limited in aromatherapy and medicinal use. Although the compound is credited with hallucinogenic properties this is not certain. The chemical structure of thujone is loosely related to that of THC and it was formerly believed to have a similar structure-activity mechanism, but this has now been disproved. It is now believed that it antagonizes inhibition in the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor system

[Blarg]

That's weird -- hallocinogenic properties not certain? This stuff has been around forever, and nobody knows whether it can cause hallucinations yet in all this time?