After the Lanfray murders in 1906 a petition was given to the Swiss government to ban absinthe in Switzerland . The fact that Lanfray was an alcoholic who had consumed much more than his usual two glasses of absinthe in the morning was either overlooked or ignored ; the murders were blamed solely on absinthe . The murders were the last straw , and a petition to ban absinthe in Switzerland was signed by more than 82,000 people .