the "key" ingredient is wormwood, which has thujone, which is a hallucinogen.
new american absinthe is merely green booze and not what it was (by a long shot) 100 years ago.
Unless of course, you go to europe and get some real absinthe as opposed to the 90201 absinthe manufactured to make teenagers caught up in anne rice novels think they are cool for drinking it. lol