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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

Absinthe containing thujone is illegal to sell for human consumption in the United States. Some brands of absinthe are sold in the U.S. which contain no thujone and other absinthes are imported into the U.S. despite FDA regulations. It is not illegal to possess Absinthe, even if it contains thujone.

History

Elixirs resembling absinthe have existed for thousands of years. Pythagoras and Hippocrates 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.

Slang

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