Science Etcetera, Jupiterday 20080501
May 1st, 2008
 Albert Maignan’s painting of “Green Muse” (1895) shows a poet succumbing to absinthe’s mind-altering effects. Courtesy of the Musée de Picardie, Amiens.(Yale) |
 Paranthropus boisei, the “Nutcracker Man,” Nicolle Rager Fuller, National Science Foundation |
Well, I dont think either ear matters, not that I have experience or anything, but “Marry Me” is a command so if dont have love behind it, the right ear should be good too, yes yes?
I was discussing this on email yesterday. Basically, a lot of people think the absinthe article is total bullshit. The absinthe distributors in America got REALLY lucky to be allowed to distribute their drink in America, and it’s only because the FDA regulates the thujone levels — anything with too much thujone isn’t allowed. Gee, I wonder why? Thujone levels are regulated almost everywhere.
Of course, absinthe is the #1 drink in terms of how much pure profit you make selling it — They are priced at incredibly high levels, despite not really being “worth” that much. The American absinthe distributors have a strong interest in perpetuating the myth that it is only the alcohol that makes you f’ed up.
Now I’ve drank alcohol. Lots of it. Many times. For many years. And I’ve… Well, let’s just say that I am quite experienced in all kinds of untoward things that I can’t mention here. Way more experienced than most people.
A friend of mine got a hold of European absinthe from an un-regulated country. I think romania. This brand had the highest thujone level of any absinthe. And we drank about 3/4ths of the bottle… That is, a good $150+ worth, in one sitting.
The feeling was definitely NOT being drunk. I’ve gotten so drunk I can’t walk, but I don’t black out. Ever. On the absinthe, I had a 7-hour-long blackout. I was unable to use the right words — I would say the wrong word, realize it, repeat myself, and continue to say the wrong word. I couldn’t realize where it was. In fact, me and N were *sitting at the campfire of our site*, and I said [yelled] to her, “Hey N, how far away is the camp site??” And she replied, “I don’t know.”
Of course, we were both AT the site. It didn’t matter. Earlier, I tried to walk 300 feet, got way too tired, had to sit down, and sat down at a picnic table much like the one at our site. From that point on, I could never tell where I was. It was too confusing.
I also got trapped in a port-a-potty. It was unlocked. It was a non turning door handle — all you have to do is push outwards. You don’t even have to grab it. That didn’t matter. I tried with all my might to get out for 10 minutes, until Carolyn had to save me.
I was alas incredibly hostile. I made Carolyn cry. Making Carolyn cry due to being on a substance that makes me hostile yis, so far, a once-in-16-years phenomenon. And her tears were actually what woke me up out of my 7 hour trance. At which point I was sober, apologized… a lot. And begin drinking non-absinthe good ol’ budweiser and stayed up a couple more hours. (N passed out and spent the next day puking. I don’t puke, though.)
I also couldn’t recognize people. There were 2 bonfires at the beach. I went up to the wrong one. “Carolyn?” I said, while circling the campfire, looking at each person’s face to see if it was her. Under normal circumstances, you’d recognize someone quite far away. Even drunk out of my mind, I’ve never had the slightest visual problem in my life (having 20/20 vision probably helps with that). But in this case? I circled the campsite 3 times without even knowing it was the wrong one. Finally the people told me I was at the wrong campsite. Did I learn? nope, I repeated this experience again. The 2nd time, I approached, They were military and asking me to identify myself, and I just kept saying “Satan”. And they just kept asking me to identify myself. And I still didn’t get that I was at the wrong campsite until I was about 3 feet away (and only because this was the 2nd time).
Then there were the other stories I heard about. Like getting in the car with friends, riding over the nature hike, going to the nature hike, and walking back. Except that I didn’t remember it. (I remember about 4 different sets of 5 seconds now.)
And the stories kept coming. For months. Any time I’d go to a social gathering or a party, one more Clint-on-absinthe story came out. None of this behavior was anything I’d experienced before…. And you should personally know my level of experience in such matters.
In short, me and everyone else in the know considers the absinthe article total bullshit, and there’s probably nothing you’ve ever posted on this blog that I disagree with more. (Which is why I made it a point NOT to blog about that article yesterday.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone
Even though it is best known for being a chemical in absinthe, recent tests show absinthe contains only small quantities of thujone, and may or may not be responsible for absinthe’s reported psychedelic effects. Thujone acts on the GABA receptors in the brain and exhibits slight, if any, psychoactive response. In many countries the amount of thujone allowed in food or drink products is regulated.
So of course, you simply buy absinthe from a country that doesn’t regulate this. Fortunately mine was obtained by a professional pharmacist who knows her shit, and did her research.
“A 2005 study recreated three 1899 high-wormwood recipes and tested them with Gas Chromatography Mass-Spectrometry (GC-MS), the highest contained 4.3 mg/L thujone. A 1930s Pernod Tarragona was also tested and contained 1.8 mg/L thujone.[9]”
Now see, I don’t remember the exact numbers, but I recall 150mg being thrown around with respect to the bottle we had. Big difference.
Oh yea, we also both tr9ied pouring more, and had our spouses take it from us, at which point we both called the “Christians” for stopping our fun. Neither of us remember this. Me & N also conversed a lot, and nobody else could follow what we were saying at all.
It certainly was unlike alcohol (though there was of course a high alcohol component which no doubt contributed to synergistic intoxication with the thujone) in every way possible. Though it was 150 proof.
But I do shots of everclear. This wasn’t that.
Magnan went on to study 250 abusers of alcohol noting that those who drank absinthe had epileptic attacks and hallucinations. In light of modern evidence, these conclusions are questionable and probably based on a poor understanding of other chemicals and diseases and were clouded by Magnan’s belief that alcohol and absinthe were “degenerating” the French race.[13]
Actually, I find the conclusions more believable than this latest article, having experienced its effects firsthand.
I guess I need to try some sage oil (50% thujone..be careful) to compare the effects. But I’m quite skeptical about this article. Quite skeptical indeed.
There’s also some stuff I forgot about here:
http://clintjcl.wordpress.com/2007/09/06/journal-camping-assateague-island-beach-camping-2007-group-trip-3/
Like almost getting this hostile guy to kick my ass by shining a flashlight in his face and laughing maniacally. Now, that may sound like typical Clint, but I actually would not do that to a hostile person that I don’t even know.
I understand that your personal experience went a long way to convincing you; however, the well-referenced wikipedia article you linked to and the peer-reviewed research are more objective. I’ve had Russian absinthe myself, but I wouldn’t take my personal perspective on my intoxication over the word of a sober scientist measuring my behaviors.
The article you linked to, at least, didn’t seem to say anything about them measuring the physiological mechanisms that were actually occurring in the user’s brain.
Wasn’t it was just speculation based on analyzing the contents of a bottle? “There’s not much thujone here, so that can’t be it.”
Even if they measured behaviors — that doesn’t say anything about the chemical reactions occurring in the brain.
More links please! This is one of the more interesting quests for knowledge out there :D
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thujone
Thujone is a GABA antagaonist:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-aminobutyric_acid#Pharmacology
For instance — they devised a way to smoke marijuana while in an fMRI chamber, so that they could study what actually happens in the brain while smoked. I’d like to see them do that with thujone.
Remember — the establishment science community once also claimed that marijuana made you grow breasts, and that it killed brain cells. Peer-reviewed is a superior system, but it doesn’t mean 100% of what is reported in the news is true.
It’s possible. Right now the scientific evidence is one way. There’ll be more studies, like the Marijuana one on cancer, which will clarify the issue.
That DNA visualization video is amazing; it is one of my favorite science videos. I found a longer version with more visualizations here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PKjF7OumYo
The guy who did these videos is Drew Berry:
http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=3195
Be sure to click on “8 Stem Cell Surface” there; that is another amazing video (although way too small).