Subject: Re: Wormwood/Artemisia/Thujone

From: [email-masked] (Paul Iannone)
Date: 22 Jul 1995 06:45:59 GMT

In message ID <[email-masked]> on 7/21/95, Maxina A. Gohlke wrote:

: >Paul Iannone tells people not to make tea out of sagebrush (Artemisia sp)
: >because it is toxic (contains thujone and other terpenoids), but tells
: >people who rant about Absinthe (containing Wormwood, another Artemisia
: >sp. containing thujone and other terpenoids) that you can't say that
: >something is toxic because its individual ingredients are toxic.
: 
: I must have missed that post!  I  guess I'm one of the ranters, but
: I stand by my opinion that the beverage called absinthe has a less
: than favorable history associated with it. Why take chances, when
: there's  even a possibility of harmful effects?

No, you're missing the point that I was making. The defense is not of
absinthe- you will hardly find herbalists on the side of regular use of a
strong alcoholic beverage, with or without Artemesia additions. What is being
countered is the attempt to tar all 'thujone' containing plants as flatly
dangerous to the health. Like anything else, the concentration in the dose is
the issue. 

The thujone attack is part of a concerted effort to attack herbalism as
unsafe. Headed by Mr. Tyler of [Dis]Honest Herbal fame, this is the same
isolative thinking that has made comfrey illegal. Be careful who you are
sleeping with!

BTW, if you assume your "Why take chances, when there's even a possibility of
harmful effects?" stance, you will have to avoid cabbage, since it is
poisonous in large amounts (and avoid just about everything else, since they
are too).

--Paul  ||  [email-masked]
--