Absinthe - Effects

Effects

Absinthe has been frequently and improperly described in modern times as being hallucinogenic. This is at least partly rooted in the fact that following some ten years of experiments with wormwood oil in the 19th century, the French psychiatrist Valentin Magnan studied 250 cases of alcoholism, and claimed that those who drank absinthe were worse off than those drinking ordinary alcohol, having experienced rapid-onset hallucinations. Such accounts by opponents of absinthe (like Magnan) were cheerfully embraced by famous absinthe drinkers, many of whom were bohemian artists or writers.

Two famous artists who helped popularize the notion that absinthe had powerful psychoactive properties were Toulouse Lautrec and Vincent van Gogh. In one of the best-known written accounts of absinthe drinking, an inebriated Oscar Wilde described a phantom sensation of having tulips brush against his legs after leaving a bar at closing time. Today it is known that absinthe does not cause hallucinations. Thujone, once widely believed to be an active chemical in absinthe, is a GABA antagonist; and while it can produce muscle spasms in large doses, there is no direct evidence to suggest it causes hallucinations. It has been speculated that reports of hallucinogenic effects of absinthe were most likely due to poisonous adulterants being added to cheaper versions of the drink in the 19th century.

Notions of absinthe's alleged hallucinogenic properties were again fuelled in the 1970s, when a scientific paper suggested that thujone's structural similarity to THC, the active chemical in cannabis, presented the possibility of THC receptor affinity. This theory was conclusively disproved in 1999.

The debate over whether absinthe produces effects on the human mind in addition to those of alcohol has not been conclusively resolved. The effects of absinthe have been described by some as mind opening. The most commonly reported experience is a 'clear-headed' feeling of inebriation — a form of 'lucid drunkenness'. Chemist, historian and absinthe distiller Ted Breaux has claimed that the alleged secondary effects of absinthe may be caused by the fact that some of the herbal compounds in the drink act as stimulants, while others act as sedatives, creating an overall lucid effect of awakening. The long term effects of moderate absinthe consumption in humans remain unknown, although herbs traditionally used in the production of absinthe are reported to have both painkilling and antiparasitic properties.