Should absinthe be legal?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I wouldn't have a problem with all booze being illegal.

Holy sh*t. Here's hoping you are a sock.

[Roemerista]

I didn't say that I want all booze to be illegal. I said I wouldn't mind it.

Whats the usual Marijuana defense? Its safer than alcohol? If we were consistent we would ban it, since it does have negative consequences, with little benefit. So I could see a reasonable argument for it being illegal, thus such a success would hardly bother me. Since I could care less personally about drinking.

Thats not that crazy, is it?

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I didn't say that I want all booze to be illegal. I said I wouldn't mind it.

Whats the usual Marijuana defense? Its safer than alcohol? If we were consistent we would ban it, since it does have negative consequences, with little benefit. So I could see a reasonable argument for it being illegal, thus such a success would hardly bother me. Since I could care less personally about drinking.

Thats not that crazy, is it?

To Torie and I it's practically heresy.

[Roemerista]

Well please do not burn me at the stake. And if you do decide to do that, I suppose you could use absinthe to make it all go quicker.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Well please do not burn me at the stake. And if you do decide to do that, I suppose you could use absinthe to make it all go quicker.

Hush.  We wouldn't waste a drop of it burning you

[Free Palestine]

Something being bad for you is not a valid reason for banning it.

[Mechaman]

The Mechaman option of course .

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Already is where I live. Haven't had it though, and by the poor recomendations in this I won't be likely to try it. I've never liked bitter tasting alcohol.

So what exactly is the Mechaman option?

[Mechaman]

Already is where I live. Haven't had it though, and by the poor recomendations in this I won't be likely to try it. I've never liked bitter tasting alcohol.

So what exactly is the Mechaman option?

I really have no idea to be honest.  I imagine it would be legalize the damn thing with no restrictions whatsoever (that's at least what I would do).

[Torie]

I didn't say that I want all booze to be illegal. I said I wouldn't mind it.

Whats the usual Marijuana defense? Its safer than alcohol? If we were consistent we would ban it, since it does have negative consequences, with little benefit. So I could see a reasonable argument for it being illegal, thus such a success would hardly bother me. Since I could care less personally about drinking.

Thats not that crazy, is it?

To Torie and I it's practically heresy.

On a slightly semi serious note, having completed my DUI classes, I can tell you, that if you lack certain enzymes as a genetic matter that operate in the liver, and fail to efficiently process alcohol molecules (a surprising simple molecule it turns out, just a few more H atoms than water basically), alcohol is the most dangerous drug that you can consume, and the odds are better than 50-50 that it will kill you, and kill you rather early in life.

 About 20% of the population are in that category. Since Grumps and are I are still around, and can still type and string sentences together, it appears that we are in the other 80%. If alcoholism runs in your family, to me it would be reckless to drink - ever. One of my teachers, a serious ex alcoholic, said about 30 of his blood line of whom he knows have died of alcoholism, many before they hit 40, and one poor niece at age 23. He drank about 1.5 liters a day for about 8 years, before he decided that he didn't want to die.

Pot does not do any of that. Granted if you smoke about 10 joints a day, you might have lung problems later, and if you are stoned all the time for years and years, it can damage your brain a bit. But nothing like the way alcohol if you are a serious alcoholic damages your brain, but typically that is not so well known, because the liver fails much faster killing you first  before you become a mental midget, particularly for those who have a genetic inability to effectively process alcohol.

By the way, about 70% of serious alcoholics never really kick the addiction, and do die from it. In fact, if you quit without going to detox, you may well die just from not having alcohol. Nasty stuff.

[??????????]

70% of Alcoholism is by choice.

[Lunar]

Absinthe is cool, I like it.

Much cheaper here than in NYC, fwiw


It's so strong and expensive, there's basically no way to enjoy it except in extreme moderation...otherwise the alcohol overwhelms everything else it has to offer

[Torie]

70% of Alcoholism is by choice.

It's a horrific addiction actually, a systemic disease, and we now understand pretty well the mechanisms. The will power to overcome it, is beyond the power of most. Life is about odds, and intelligently parsing them, in my opinion, at least a life that one can look back on without undue regret.

One shocking thing that I learned, well documented, is that if you are say a dry alcoholic for 15 years, and take up drink again, within a very few weeks, you body will degrade as if you had been drinking all those 15 years, and you may die within a few months, if not sooner. It happens all the time. It is as if the body has some recessive memory, as it were. I don't understand very well why this counter-intuitive fact exists, but it does exist, and it is a fact.

[minionofmidas]

The stuff you buy in Germany and the Czech Republic isn't authentic.  It's just kind of a really bitter licorice/sambuca type flavored drink with a high alcohol content.

So did the "authentic" stuff of 80 years ago.

[tpfkaw]

Something being bad for you is not a valid reason for banning it.

I think we should ban trans fats! And salt!

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

70% of Alcoholism is by choice.

It's a horrific addiction actually, a systemic disease, and we now understand pretty well the mechanisms. The will power to overcome it, is beyond the power of most. Life is about odds, and intelligently parsing them, in my opinion, at least a life that one can look back on without undue regret.

One shocking thing that I learned, well documented, is that if you are say a dry alcoholic for 15 years, and take up drink again, within a very few weeks, you body will degrade as if you had been drinking all those 15 years, and you may die within a few months, if not sooner. It happens all the time. It is as if the body has some recessive memory, as it were. I don't understand very well why this counter-intuitive fact exists, but it does exist, and it is a fact.

Your DUI classes are depressing me. 

[patrick1]

70% of Alcoholism is by choice.

It's a horrific addiction actually, a systemic disease, and we now understand pretty well the mechanisms. The will power to overcome it, is beyond the power of most. Life is about odds, and intelligently parsing them, in my opinion, at least a life that one can look back on without undue regret.

One shocking thing that I learned, well documented, is that if you are say a dry alcoholic for 15 years, and take up drink again, within a very few weeks, you body will degrade as if you had been drinking all those 15 years, and you may die within a few months, if not sooner. It happens all the time. It is as if the body has some recessive memory, as it were. I don't understand very well why this counter-intuitive fact exists, but it does exist, and it is a fact.

From what Ive seen that is only if you have a pre-existing and very serious liver problem. An old boss and friend of mine had liver disease.  He stayed off the stuff for several years, recuperated, went back to work, started drinking again.  It took him a few years but it eventually killed him.  A very bad and painful death too.  51 or 52.  On the other hand, Ive also known people who were in the program for several decades and took to some drinking again without any negative impact to their health. 

A true element in what they told you is that usually when people start drinking again; even after decades of sobriety and starting very lightly,  they usually fall back into their old patterns of excess within a few weeks.

[Free Palestine]

Something being bad for you is not a valid reason for banning it.

I think we should ban trans fats! And salt!

And cars and guns!

[tpfkaw]

Something being bad for you is not a valid reason for banning it.

I think we should ban trans fats! And salt!

And cars and guns!

And bathtubs! And fishing rods!