This is Gia's bf. i have temporarily hijacked her account. The absinthe in the U.S. is the same absinthe that is in Europe. It was banned in 1914 because of the belief that there were psychotropic effects of the wormwood. There were other spirits made during that time that touted themselves as an absinthe without the wormwood. However with the advent of the E.U. there was issue with absinthe where it was legal in some countries and banned in others. The original recipes were re-evaluated with a more modern understanding and the wormwood was found to be safe and thus absinthe was made legal again. The U.S. followed suit and the 'real absinthe' is legal and readily available in the U.S. since 2007.