Almost missed it folks! Viridian Spirits wants to declare March 5th as National Absinthe Day - and we're alright with that here. It was two years ago today that the US Government came to its senses and allowed absinthe back on the shelves after a long 95 years. May the louche flow freely!

BrandFreak: Absinthe might need its own holiday to remind people it's legal

Not counting St. Patrick's Day, March is pretty much devoid of holidays. But if absinthe maker Lucid has its way, March 5 will henceforth be known as National Absinthe Day. It was on that date in 2007 that the U.S. government finally gave in and made the libation legal here after about a 95-year ban.

Oh boy, now the totally ridiculous French (and nearly worldwide) absinthe ban of the early 1900s is used to defend the (ahem) "War on Drugs". This is a letter to the editor in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. And yes, as a matter of fact, the French did prohibit absinthe for nothing, merely a hysterical overreaction, fed by the wine lobby, to bad publicity. Funny he should say that now. Wonder if Mr. Casey realizes it is now legal in France and nearly everywhere else, and that he can probably buy a bottle at his local liquor store?

Don't legalize - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Amesh A. Adalja ("End the drug war," Letters, March 4 and PghTrib.com) seems to believe that allowing the legal use of drugs will stop the violence by Mexican drug gangs from spilling over into the United States.

It may, but free access to drugs by the public will bring on consequences too serious to contemplate.

The French didn't prohibit the unrestricted sale of absinthe for nothing. It endangered the well-being of the whole nation.

William R. Casey
West Mifflin