apparently the thujone found in sage is alpha-, and the thujone found in wormwood (one of the "main" ingredients in the liquer absinthe) is the beta- form of the molecule (or vice-versa; it's been a while)... so the ummm pharmacological effects are different...
that said, even inhaling cooking spice sage aroma/fumes can cause some people to feel a mild high... (i think some folks stuff little herbal pillow full of sage leaf... & i hear that hops, & many other herbs, can work that way as well)
and sagespice is used medicnally...
(& sage spice is a strong flavor & aroma, but nowhere near as horribly bitter as the wormwood (wormwood has lots of other chemicals in it as well, very very bitter)... & there are some other botanical sources of thujone(s) (Arbor vitae?)...)
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of course, other species of sage (cooking sage is Salvia officinalis) have other chemicals in them...
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