Is Absinthe Legal ?

(What follows is an attempt to describe absinthe's legal status. The wise reader will remember that I am not a lawyer. There may be relevant laws or legal rulings with which I am unfamiliar.)

Although it is banned in some Western countries, absinthe isn't controlled as a drug but as a food. As with many other things considered poisonous, you aren't allowed to commercially make food or drink containing more than trace amounts of thujone. However, simple possession of thujone-containing ethanol solutions will probably not get you into legal problems. Presumably you would be legally liable for any possible damages if you gave absinthe to others to drink. Artemisia species are completely legal and are attractive perennial ornamental plants.

In the United States of America, absinthe was originally banned by Food Inspection Decision 147 in 1912. Now, thujone is banned as a food additive according to Section 801A of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of August, 1972. Wormwood was included on a list of unsafe herbs which the FDA released in 1975.

The European Community Codex Committee on Food Additives has restricted the levels of thujone to 0.5 ppm (mg/kg) in food and beverages, 10 ppm (mg/kg) in alcoholic beverages containing more than 25% alcohol, 5 ppm (mg/kg) in weaker alcoholic beverages, and 35 ppm in bitters. Absinthe was banned in Belgium in 1905, in Switzerland in 1907, in Italy in 1913, and in France in 1915.

Absinthe (made with wormwood) is still available in Spain (contrary to Pendell (1995)) and reportedly in Denmark, Andorra, and Portugal as well. It has also recently become popular in the Czech Republic under the brand name "Hill's Absinth."