When And Where Was Absinthe Banned

Verified Chronological Record of Government Prohibitions and Their Later Reversal (1898 to 2007)

The earliest documented government prohibition targeting absinthe is generally traced to 1898 in the Congo Free State, when colonial authorities introduced restrictions on the import and sale of the spirit. This marked the beginning of a sequence of legislative measures that spread across Europe and North America during the early twentieth century.

Between the late nineteenth century and the interwar period, several governments enacted laws specifically targeting absinthe and wormwood-based spirits. These prohibitions were rarely based purely on toxicological evidence. Instead, they emerged from a convergence of factors including:

• the international temperance movement
• political pressure from agricultural and wine interests
• widely publicised crimes attributed, often inaccurately to absinthe consumption.

Most national prohibitions appeared within a relatively short period between 1905 and 1915, reflecting a wider wave of alcohol regulation across Europe and North America.

The chronology below lists the principal government-documented bans directed specifically at absinthe, followed by the key regulatory developments that eventually allowed its return.

Chronological Summary of Absinthe Prohibitions

Legislative Record and Historical Context

1898: Congo Free State

Authority

Government of the Congo Free State.

Measure

Colonial decree restricting the import and sale of absinthe.

Scope

• import
• sale
• commercial circulation

Historical context

This measure is generally regarded as the earliest recorded government prohibition specifically targeting absinthe. It formed part of broader colonial alcohol-control policies applied within the Belgian administration of the Congo Free State. Absinthe was likely being used in large quantities by the white administrators and settles to ward off malaria

Archival verification

Royal Museum for Central Africa – colonial archives
https://archives.africamuseum.be

1906 : Belgium

Law

Loi du 25 septembre 1906 relative à l’interdiction de l’absinthe.

Scope

The law prohibited:

• manufacture
• import
• transport
• sale
• possession for sale

Historical context

Belgium became the first European nation to enact a national prohibition of absinthe. The legislation reflected growing temperance activism and public concern regarding the drink across continental Europe.

1909: Netherlands

Law

Absintwet (Absinthe Law)

Scope

• production
• import
• trade
• sale

Historical context

The Dutch Absintwet represents one of the clearest examples of legislation written specifically to regulate absinthe as a distinct product category.

1910: Switzerland

Legal basis

• national referendum (1908)
• prohibition inserted into the Swiss Constitution
• federal enforcement implemented from 1910

Scope

• manufacture
• sale
• possession

• import

Historical context

Switzerland particularly the Val-de-Travers region is widely regarded as the birthplace of absinthe. Despite this heritage, the country introduced one of the strictest bans.

The prohibition followed the widely reported Jean Lanfray murders of 1905, which temperance campaigners used as evidence against absinthe despite the perpetrator having consumed several other alcoholic drinks.

Legal verification

Swiss federal law database
https://www.fedlex.admin.ch

https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/fga/1910/4_298_417_/de

Later Legal Reversal

In 2004–2005, revisions to Swiss food legislation removed the historic constitutional prohibition. Absinthe production was again permitted within modern food-safety regulations governing thujone levels.

This reform allowed legal distillation to return to the historic absinthe region of Val-de-Travers.

1912: United States

Instrument

USDA Food Inspection Decision (F.I.D.) 147
Issued 25 July 1912

Scope

• import prohibited
• sale prohibited
• beverages containing wormwood oil or thujone considered adulterated

Historical context

The United States did not pass a statute explicitly banning absinthe by name. Instead, federal regulators determined that beverages containing wormwood oil or thujone were adulterated under food safety law.

In practice this decision prevented the importation and commercial sale of absinthe in the United States.

Official source

Library of Congress archival document
https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llglrd/2019670640/2019670640.pdf

Regulatory Reassessment and Market Reopening

In 2007, the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) confirmed that spirits containing wormwood could be approved for sale provided they met the regulatory standard of being “thujone-free” (less than 10 parts per million).

This clarification allowed approved absinthe products to return to the American market.

Regulatory reference

U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau
https://www.ttb.gov/public-information/industry-circulars/archives/2007/07-05

The reopening of the U.S. market occurred on 5 March 2007, marking the first legal imports of absinthe since the 1912 ruling.

1915 : France

Law

Loi du 16 mars 1915.

Scope

The law prohibited:

• manufacture
• sale
• circulation
• commercial possession

of

“absinthe and similar wormwood liqueurs.”

Historical context

France had been the largest absinthe market in the world, with annual consumption estimated in the tens of millions of litres.

The prohibition emerged from a combination of:

• temperance activism
• public reaction to crimes attributed to absinthe
• lobbying from the French wine industry, recovering from the phylloxera crisis
• wartime social policy during the First World War.

Because France represented the principal global market for absinthe, the 1915 ban effectively collapsed the international absinthe industry for much of the twentieth century.

Legal verification

French government legislation database ~ repeal
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000000315324

Regulatory Reassessment and Return of Production

Modern European food regulations introduced limits for thujone in beverages containing wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). These standards ultimately clarified that traditionally distilled absinthe could comply with contemporary food safety rules.

This regulatory clarification enabled the lawful return of commercial absinthe distillation to France in 2000, nearly a century after the original prohibition.

Relevant regulatory framework

European flavourings directive governing thujone limits
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:31988L0388

See Appendix 2 ~ last item on Thujone Alpha & Beta as identified and used by George Rowley via commercial Thujone Tests (carriered out with the Prague Chemical and Technical University in 1998) on Absinthe to confirm Absinthe was legally consumable under EU legislation

1915: New Hebrides (now Vanuatu)

Law

Absinthe (Prohibition) Act 1915.

Scope

• manufacture
• import
• circulation
• retail sale

Historical context

The legislation formed part of the regulatory framework governing the Anglo-French condominium administration of the New Hebrides.

1923: Germany

Law

Gesetz über den Verkehr mit Absinth
(Law on the Trade in Absinthe)
27 April 1923

Scope

• manufacture
• commercial trade
• distribution
• publication of instructions relating to absinthe production

Historical context

Germany introduced one of the most comprehensive absinthe prohibitions, extending regulation beyond production and sale to restrict even the dissemination of information about its manufacture.

1931: Italy

Law

Fascist-era prohibition of “Assenzio”

Codified under:

Regio Decreto 18 giugno 1931

Scope

• manufacture
• import
• transport
• sale

Historical context

These restrictions formed part of broader alcohol-control policies under the Italian Fascist government and remained in place until later regulatory reforms aligned Italian law with European standards.

Countries Where Absinthe Was Never Prohibited

Despite the widespread bans introduced across Europe and North America, several countries never enacted specific prohibitions on absinthe, including:

• United Kingdom
• Spain
• Portugal
• Czechoslovakia

As a result, limited production and consumption continued in parts of Europe throughout the twentieth century.

Conclusion

Between 1898 and 1931, at least nine jurisdictions enacted formal government bans specifically targeting absinthe. These prohibitions appeared largely within a twenty-year period during the early twentieth century and reflected broader temperance movements and political pressures surrounding alcohol consumption.

Although these laws dramatically reduced the global presence of absinthe for much of the twentieth century, modern scientific analysis and updated food safety regulations eventually led to a reassessment of the earlier bans.

Between 2000 and 2007, key regulatory developments allowed absinthe to return legally to international markets, marking the beginning of the modern revival of the historic spirit.

Further archival material documenting the legal history and modern return of absinthe can be explored through:

www.worldabsintheday.com
www.lafee.com