Absinthe, what's your opinion on it?

[PandaMasterX4]

Many people actually don't really know much about this liquor, except that it is illegal in the US. What about it is illegal in the US. Well according to US laws "thujone is still banned, but as a food rather than a drug. You aren't allowed to distill or commercially make absinthe, but you can legally own a bottle and even make your own as long as it isn't distilled."

Thujone is a clear liquid inside the drink which is part of what causes the hallucinations, along with wormwood and other herbs. A lot of europe has made it legal once again, after it's prohibition and put a regulation on how much thujone is allowed per bottle.

Do you think it should remain illegal in the US? Give your reasons why you think it should be banned or allowed. Personally, I think a large amount of americans are irrisponsible, and it should be illegal. The more the knowledge of it is kept from the US, the better.

[HUnewearl_Meira]

Panda, do you honestly think that we can best reduce the irresponsible portion of our population by protecting them? Come now. If you're dumb enough to drink enough of the stuff to get yourself killed, then we're probably best off without you in our gene pool. I know it's a harsh view of things, but survival of the fittest, right?

Anyway, I keep trying to get my buddy (who is in the Army and stationed in Italy at the present time) to send me a bottle of the stuff. Sooner or later, I'll convince him. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_wacko.gif

[ABDUR101]

I've been thinking of ordering a bottle through a website that a friend gave me a while back. He's got his bottle through the mail fine, but I've got other alcohol to drink in the meantime. No use having bottles just laying around, ya know?

As for it still being illegal. I'm with Meira, if you're stupid and irresponsible enough, we don't need your genes anyway.

[PandaMasterX4]

I'm trying to protect the victims that will see the bad end of the substance abusers. There are already enough drunk drivers on the road, and we really don't need drunk, hallucinating drivers lol. No matter for me since I'm leaving the states, but I dunno, america is just too stupid IMO to take anything responsibly.

I've taken many different forms of absinth and absinthe. There is a difference from the amount of herbs actually used. Different effects and different results. It's good, but definately gotta but people always try the weaker stuff and think it's the same. Trujone is usually in low portions when people take it, so it isn't the same effect and more of just a drunk effect.

[Solstis]

From what I've heard, absinthe rarely has hallucinogenic properties.

Anyway, a person that's hallucinating is probably unlikely to even get the door open, much less drive a car. Also, paranoid/delusional people tend to be slow, careful drivers, lest they hit that biker that isn't really there.

Then again, I don't really care enough to say whether or not the drink should be banned or not. Maybe unbanning it would make it less mysterious, and thus less sought after by Americans?

[Eihwaz]

On 2006-10-23 19:06, Solstis wrote:
Then again, I don't really care enough to say whether or not the drink should be banned or not. Maybe unbanning it would make it less mysterious, and thus less sought after by Americans?


Quoted for truth.

It's been shown time and time again. If you unban something, it loses all mystery and intrigue, and use of it will drop dramatically.

That being said, I want to try some absinthe sometime.

[Xaos127]

Absinthe is legal here ( Australia ), also don't believe what you see in movies, for example Eurotrip, it isn't that bad.

[Blitzkommando]

On 2006-10-23 16:54, PandaMasterX4 wrote:
No matter for me since I'm leaving the states, but I dunno, america is just too stupid IMO to take anything responsibly.

Yeah, because in Europe and the rest of the some six billion people of the world there are no idiots.

People like things that are illegal because they are illegal which makes them inherently more 'awesome' and 'cool'. I don't know enough about these particular substances to know what other effects that are related to them, nor about the reasoning that they are not to be distilled within the United States. However, the fact they can still be legally obtained tells me that the government has pussy-footed around the subject and couldn't decide one way or another whether to fully ban (like, say, cocaine) or to fully legalize (like, say, more common types of alcohol).

Speaking of hallucination producing substances, there were bananas in Hawaii that would cause the person eating them to see things. Fully legal, and sold out next to the chocolate flavored bananas. I thought that was funny that someone could get some potassium and a hallucination out of the same food.

[PandaMasterX4]

No my arguement of americans being stupid is that there is a higher count of drunk driving in america due to more roads instead of public transportation. Take california for example. This place is huge, and every day I drove home from work, or to a party, I'd witness so many drunk drivers and accidents. I don't deny that I am being rather bias due to my location and places I've been. Frankly, I think a place like New York, would definately handle in it's culture far better than it would in California.

You are right however, that because something is illegal, it gives it more of that rebelious aspect.

BTW, where can i find these bananas for import? lol

[Getintothegame]

I would really like to try some some day.

Then again... Maybe only because It's in Moulin Rouge AND Eurotrip?

[rbf2000]

My sister went to Europe over the summer and picked me up a small bottle of the stuff. I saved it for my birthday. It was really not what I was expecting. It tasted like licorice. I only had a shot of the stuff because I shared it with my friends, but it is not something that I would drink normally, that's for sure (and not because of its side effects).

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: rbf2000 on 2006-10-24 05:32 ]</font>

[tank1]

Ive had it a few times and i feel its overrated aswell and im yet to experience hallucinations.

[HUnewearl_Meira]

On 2006-10-23 22:42, PandaMasterX4 wrote:
No my arguement of americans being stupid is that there is a higher count of drunk driving in america due to more roads instead of public transportation. Take california for example. This place is huge, and every day I drove home from work, or to a party, I'd witness so many drunk drivers and accidents. I don't deny that I am being rather bias due to my location and places I've been. Frankly, I think a place like New York, would definately handle in it's culture far better than it would in California.



You're making a great deal of broad, sweeping generalizations here, and furthermore assuming that the other nations of the world that all these "idiots" originated from aren't also full of idiots just like them. I'll have you know that the vast majority of the really odd news stories in Reuters' RSS feed come from Europe (and most of those seem to be from Germany, for some reason), while such stories from the United States are relatively rare. For an example, this morning, I read about a German man who crashed his car into a restroom, because his in-car navigation system told him, "Turn now!!" He was about 300 yards from his intended turn, and caused several thousand dollars in damages. That sort of news. These are the same people who make a big deal about the quality of engineering that goes into their cars.

The moral of the story? It's not just Americans that are stupid and irresponsible-- it's humans as a whole.

[BlueDagger]

I say make it legal. Make everything legal. Let the irresponsible americans go wild, and let the smart ones leave the country. Eventually the irresponsible people will all kill each other and the world will be liberated of them.

[PandaMasterX4]

On 2006-10-24 10:07, HUnewearl_Meira wrote:


On 2006-10-23 22:42, PandaMasterX4 wrote:
No my arguement of americans being stupid is that there is a higher count of drunk driving in america due to more roads instead of public transportation. Take california for example. This place is huge, and every day I drove home from work, or to a party, I'd witness so many drunk drivers and accidents. I don't deny that I am being rather bias due to my location and places I've been. Frankly, I think a place like New York, would definately handle in it's culture far better than it would in California.



You're making a great deal of broad, sweeping generalizations here, and furthermore assuming that the other nations of the world that all these "idiots" originated from aren't also full of idiots just like them. I'll have you know that the vast majority of the really odd news stories in Reuters' RSS feed come from Europe (and most of those seem to be from Germany, for some reason), while such stories from the United States are relatively rare. For an example, this morning, I read about a German man who crashed his car into a restroom, because his in-car navigation system told him, "Turn now!!" He was about 300 yards from his intended turn, and caused several thousand dollars in damages. That sort of news. These are the same people who make a big deal about the quality of engineering that goes into their cars.

The moral of the story? It's not just Americans that are stupid and irresponsible-- it's humans as a whole.



wow... lol. America gets a lot of cases of old people saying they were trying to hit the breaks, but instead hit the accelerator and drove it into a crowded market place. This has happened about 8 times in such a short period too.

Oh, and proof that America is damn stupid, (I don't associate myself with this one bit) They voted for Bush... twice.

[rbf2000]

On 2006-10-24 11:45, PandaMasterX4 wrote:

wow... lol. America gets a lot of cases of old people saying they were trying to hit the breaks, but instead hit the accelerator and drove it into a crowded market place. This has happened about 8 times in such a short period too.

Oh, and proof that America is damn stupid, (I don't associate myself with this one bit) They voted for Bush... twice.


Do you know how old that guy was? He was too old to be driving, that's for sure. That example doesn't make America sound stupid, but it does do a good job of incriminating you.

The truth of the matter is America is pretty conservative. In our society we are babied by these laws that are supposed to protect us, and while they may protect us they make for a steep learning curve.

For example, many people are not exposed to alcohol until they go off to college in the states. They don't have any experience handling alcohol, so they often drink more than they should and get themselves in trouble. This attitude perpetuated throughout college and some people develop bad habits because of it, most grow out of it, however.

So despite what BlueDagger says, loosening restrictions may in fact make American's more responsible.

Also, please note that 51% of Americans voted for Bush, that's hardly the entire country. If he had lost he would have been the first "war-time" president in the history of our nation to lose, and he came pretty close to doing just that.

I don't consider myself particularly patriotic, but I do like to think that I have a smidgen of intellect, so when you call an entire nation, of which I am a part, dumb, it bothers me.

[HUnewearl_Meira]

On 2006-10-24 11:45, PandaMasterX4 wrote:
Oh, and proof that America is damn stupid, (I don't associate myself with this one bit) They voted for Bush... twice.



That, Panda, is entirely a matter of opinion, and you're a fool for stating it as fact. Given the alternatives, Bush was a hell of a deal.

Let's just remember that the rest of the world is active with malevolent dictatorships, facists, and configurations of law that mean your personal rights and freedoms are inherent of the government, rather than being inherent of your own existence. Let's remember that in a great deal of the rest of the world, people are still killed by their government because they choose to become vocal about their ideas. Let's remember that there are some damned good reasons why thousands of people immigrate here everyday. There are damned good reasons why so many Mexicans are so desperate to get here, for that matter.

Regardless of how bad you think the United States is, you'll be shocked to discover when you leave, that the rest of the world isn't any better; if whereever you end up is even at the same level, then it's only different. Perhaps not necessarily worse, mind you, but never better.

Do you think you're the first coastal Californian to become disenfranchised with the United States, and choose to leave? Do you have any idea how many of them came back when the found out what the rest of the world is like?

Yeah, sure, there are some downright idiots in this country, but it's no different anywhere else, and there's a reason for it: The stupid reproduce more than the intelligent. It's no different here than anywhere else. Maybe you'll figure that out, some day.