Purchase Absinth Canada

To start out, I would like to point out to everybody in Canada- Absinth IS legal in Canada, it always has been. In theory you CAN purchase Absinth in Canada. The problem is the word "theory" in the sentence. There is no law expressly banning the buying, selling or drinking of absinth. In law, if it's not expressly forbidden, it's allowed.

Canada's regulation in the buying of Absinth is pretty blurry, not because of the drink, the drink you can find it commercially available in any store, but the thujone. Thujone is the active ingredient in the drink and the brands sold commercially carry low levels of thujone in them. This places Canadian authorities in a tight spot, they can't say you are doing something illegal, although they pretty much act as if you were.

If you want to purchase absinth in Canada that is thujone rich, then you are gonna have to dive into some legal mumbo jumbo to determine where you stand. In Canada, the authorities don't know what to say or what position to take in this matter. Health Canada only gives "guidelines" and are throwing the actual decision making to the Province's liquor board, this gives the bureaucrats the final word. The board supposedly evaluates the "danger" and if they consider it (based on what assumption is unclear) hazardous they will stop the shipment. The truth is, they are trying to pass the bottles with the lowest levels of thujone possible.

Canada is playing along pretty much with what US regulation are, and are allowing 1.5 ppm of thujone to be on the clear.

If you are looking for information in the net, do yourself a favor and check the date when it was written, the laws are changing rapidly and many sites are still holding outdated information, so one site might tell you a horror story about prohibition when that is ancient history. Also, a new government will surely bring on different policies on the handling of this issue so be on the lookout for changes on regulations as the situation is pretty much still on the air.

I have heard that you can purchase absinth in Canada through the internet. Customs will open it, but if it's for your personal consumption (one case) they have to let it through because law only regulates its sale not its consumption, again, check what policies your province is currently handling.

Whatever brand of absinth you decide to buy in Canada, remember that not all products are the same, there are some very poorly elaborated that are bragging about a high thujone level just to make the sale, be sure to taste a good bottle at least the fist time so you can judge the rest.