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BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | negrogesic
Thujone in Absinthe?!?
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jasoncrest
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About the hallucinations; some Absinthe brands contain Calamus (stimulant), Nutmeg (hallucinogenic) and many other psychoactive herbs (there are recipes from the 19th century with Henbane (= Datura-like anticholinergic) in it...)...
So it is possible that some brand produce hallucinations in high doses, or other effects.
I believe that common Absinthes won't produce anything more than Ethanol intoxication though...
Mine was made with Calamus, Nutmeg, Wormwood and a few other herbs. It only produced a drunk feeling + a feeling that's not strong enough for me to consider it anything else than placebo....
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There is a theory that says that the psychoactivity of Absinthe would show only if you would drink it daily for a long-time, the Thujone and other actives building in your body everyday until they would reach strong psychoactive effects......
So it is possible that some brand produce hallucinations in high doses, or other effects.
I believe that common Absinthes won't produce anything more than Ethanol intoxication though...
Mine was made with Calamus, Nutmeg, Wormwood and a few other herbs. It only produced a drunk feeling + a feeling that's not strong enough for me to consider it anything else than placebo....
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There is a theory that says that the psychoactivity of Absinthe would show only if you would drink it daily for a long-time, the Thujone and other actives building in your body everyday until they would reach strong psychoactive effects......
Jackal
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In the UK "proper" absinthe is illegal.
To get round this a spirit marketed as "absinthe" with a very high alcohol content is sold in bars and pubs. It tastes vile but is basically yukky vodka.
The proper stuff can be bought on a weekend trip to many eastern European countries and the drunk is very, very different in its nature. I do not hallucinate or trip but I do get pretty delirious after an hour with regular shots.
To get round this a spirit marketed as "absinthe" with a very high alcohol content is sold in bars and pubs. It tastes vile but is basically yukky vodka.
The proper stuff can be bought on a weekend trip to many eastern European countries and the drunk is very, very different in its nature. I do not hallucinate or trip but I do get pretty delirious after an hour with regular shots.
mulberryman
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Ahhh, research... Well, first of all, anyone looking to consume absinthe, can for much less green, just pick up some common variety grocery-store sage, consume some (like a tsp or something, maybe) and then just drink some beer, wine, vodka, or whatever poison's your pleasure.
The psychedelic effect, if present at all, may have finally been revealed, if what I've just read may be correct. Apparently, besides the GABA-a receptor, ethanol also has effects upon the muscarinic receptors as well. Thus thujone, the main psychoactive ingredient in both wormwood and sage, as well as a number of other plants and herbs, being a GABA-a receptor antagonist, effectively blocking the effects of alcohol on the inhibitory and sedative GABA-a receptor, enhancing the muscarinic effect, and thus causing possible pseudo-psychedelic effects.
The psychedelic effect, if present at all, may have finally been revealed, if what I've just read may be correct. Apparently, besides the GABA-a receptor, ethanol also has effects upon the muscarinic receptors as well. Thus thujone, the main psychoactive ingredient in both wormwood and sage, as well as a number of other plants and herbs, being a GABA-a receptor antagonist, effectively blocking the effects of alcohol on the inhibitory and sedative GABA-a receptor, enhancing the muscarinic effect, and thus causing possible pseudo-psychedelic effects.
mulberryman said:
That's interesting, although I'm still skeptical. Who's to say that's not a pseudo-scientific press release written by one of the companies that produce absinthe? Or is it independent research? I'm aware of reports like on erowid (man, that site gets some whackos) that absinthe gets you drunk, but it's like a different 'type' of drunk. Someone even likened it to *gasp* an opiate-like substance, lol. Some even say it's more like acid/pot. As mentioned above, this is probably a placebo effect. Or people are just comparing it to drugs they've never really tried.
I do agree that certain alcohols can have different 'feel' to them, but they're really not all that different in the end.
mulberryman
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^Well, though I can't be sure, but it certainly does look authentic, if its authenticity can be measure in the amount of near-complete incomprehensibility of its lingua.
Though, I can barely understand it myself, I guess I could be completely wrong in my assumptions as well, but I will say this, nowhere on the same page or publication, in my research, has anyone actually made the connection between thujone's GABA-a receptor antagonism, and ethanol's muscarininc receptor agonism.
Ahhh, original thought...
Of course, there could definitly be other factors involved in the consumption of absinthe; more research is needed...
Though, I can barely understand it myself, I guess I could be completely wrong in my assumptions as well, but I will say this, nowhere on the same page or publication, in my research, has anyone actually made the connection between thujone's GABA-a receptor antagonism, and ethanol's muscarininc receptor agonism.
Ahhh, original thought...
Of course, there could definitly be other factors involved in the consumption of absinthe; more research is needed...
Yeah, it looks/sounds authentic to me as well. But I guess if it didn't sound authentic, they wouldn't have published it. I may be wrong about it being a press-release as they are usually written for the mass media and are ultimately published for the masses. Having said that, I highly doubt members of the general public would comprehend the difference between receptor agonists/antagonists.
I guess I'm just skeptical about many things. Usually when a product is said to have a certain health benefit or produce a certain effect, companies have either paid for the research themselves or have taken existing research and blown it completely out of proportion and exaggerated it greatly. Then, they take said research, summarize it into a neat little press release, send it to every major newspaper in the country, journalists write it up as 'real news', it gets published, and bingo. You've just made yourself some profit.
A good example is red wine supposedly preventing cancer. Sure, research does suggest this may be the case, but is the research as strong as it's portrayed to be? Who funded this research? How many scientists are being paid with free booze to say this? Just something to think about
I guess I'm just skeptical about many things. Usually when a product is said to have a certain health benefit or produce a certain effect, companies have either paid for the research themselves or have taken existing research and blown it completely out of proportion and exaggerated it greatly. Then, they take said research, summarize it into a neat little press release, send it to every major newspaper in the country, journalists write it up as 'real news', it gets published, and bingo. You've just made yourself some profit.
A good example is red wine supposedly preventing cancer. Sure, research does suggest this may be the case, but is the research as strong as it's portrayed to be? Who funded this research? How many scientists are being paid with free booze to say this? Just something to think about