Cannabis Drinks Are Growing in Popularity — and Helping Some People Drink Less Alcohol
Instead of going straight back to the bottle after Dry January ends, some people are looking for an alternative that doesn’t require cutting out the “fun” altogether. The risks of alcohol are well documented, from physical illnesses to social harms, and many Americans are trying to drink less, not just in January but throughout the year.
At the same time, the market for cannabis-infused beverages is booming, with market research pointing to a rapidly growing, multibillion-dollar industry. According to a new study, these drinks may offer more than novelty: they could help some adults reduce their alcohol consumption.
The study, led by public health researchers at the University at Buffalo (UB), was published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs. This research is the first to specifically examine cannabis beverages and their potential role in reducing alcohol harm.
Learn more: The strange rise of Scromiting – most common among young and heavy cannabis users
Cannabis poses fewer health risks than alcohol
Despite its recognized status as a recreational substance, the list of negative health effects of alcohol continues to grow, including several types of cancer, liver and heart diseases, and neurological disorders. Although total abstinence would be ideal from a public health perspective, realistic harm reduction strategies recognize that this is unlikely for many people.
As a result, researchers and public health institutions are increasingly working to identify lower-risk alternatives to legally available substances like alcohol and tobacco. Compared to alcohol, cannabis causes fewer documented health and social harms, and with legalization expanding access to cannabis beverages in the United States, UB researchers set out to explore whether these beverages could change the way adults drink.
“In the first study of its kind, we introduce the concept of cannabis as a means of alcohol harm reduction,” said the study’s first author, Jessica Kruger, clinical associate professor of community health and health behavior at UB, in a press release. “Cannabis has been proposed as a means of harm reduction for other drugs such as opioids, but it is not discussed as often for legal substances like alcohol.”
Consuming more cannabis drinks leads to less alcohol consumption
The survey included 438 anonymous adults who had used cannabis in the previous year, more than half of whom also reported drinking alcohol. About a third reported consuming cannabis drinks, and of those, 58 percent said they had replaced alcohol with a cannabis drink.
Participants who regularly consumed cannabis drinks also reported cutting their weekly alcohol consumption in half, to an average of three drinks per week. Binge drinking has also decreased: before consuming cannabis drinks, 47% of respondents said they drank less than once a month or never; after the introduction of cannabis drinks, this figure increased to more than 80 percent.
Overall, 62 percent of participants said they had reduced or stopped their alcohol consumption since incorporating cannabis drinks into their habits. Only 3 percent reported an increase in their alcohol consumption.
A similar delivery method may be key
To build on these initial findings, the research team next hopes to understand how cannabis beverages affect drinking behavior over time and how outcomes differ across different modes of cannabis consumption. Nonetheless, Kruger cautioned that “we have a long way to go before this is considered mainstream, as cannabis beverages are a new modality of consumption.”
The results are still promising: cannabis drinks could be a potential replacement for alcohol for people wishing to reduce their consumption. According to co-author Daniel Kruger, a research associate professor in the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions, the effect may be stronger with beverages than with other cannabis products.
“We believe this may be due to the similarity in method of administration and context of use – people at parties or in bars will likely have a drink in their hand, in this case a cannabis drink rather than an alcoholic drink,” he said in the release. “Several previous studies, including ours, have shown that people reduced their alcohol consumption by switching to cannabis. »
This article does not offer medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.
Learn more: Want to have a dry January? A month without alcohol can benefit sleep, mood and health
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