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ABSINTHE IMAGES

Price

Absinthe containing thujone is difficult to find for sale inside the United States, but is available from suppliers in other countries, many of whom are willing to ship into the U.S. Prices depend on the brand and the thujone content, and can range from $10 a bottle to over $200 per bottle.

Law

As of 2007, the de facto position of the FDA and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is to allow the sale of wormwood-infused alcoholic beverages that contain less than 10 mg/L thujone in the finished product, which they consider to meet the "thujone free" requirement. The sale of absinthe has become increasingly common in Europe over the last several years, and many countries have adopted the thujone levels established by the EU.

History

Elixirs resembling absinthe have existed for thousands of years. Pythagoras and Hippocrates may have both recommended wormwood and wormwood tinctures for a variety of ailments. Legend has it that the modern recipe for Absinthe was developed in 1792 by a French doctor named Pierre Ordinaire. A few years later, it made its way into the hands of Major Dubied and his nephew Henri-Louis Pernod, who developed several distilleries and were the first to produce modern Absinthe on a large scale. Absinthe sale was prohibited in many countries in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries amid fears that it was neurotoxic. Beginning in the late twentieth century, several countries began allowing the sale of absinthe-style liquors again, and it is undergoing something of a resurgence of popularity.

Slang

The Substance: Green Fairy, Green Goddess, La Feé Verte