I traded booze for THC drinks. But are there hidden risks?
For most of my adult life, alcohol has been my preferred way to take the edge off. But, like a lot of other people, I got older and realized regular drinking was not doing me any favours. Last year, I experimented with 'intermittent sobriety', taking months off here and there. It helped, but it was also easy to slip back into bad habits.
This year, I've jumped on the California-sober bandwagon, trading booze for the hemp-derived THC drinks that are rapidly growing in popularity. (THC stands for tetrahydrocannabinol, which is the psychoactive component of cannabis.) I've never had any interest in smokable or edible THC in the past – as a green card holder, I reckon I should make that very clear to any immigration officers reading. But these new drinks have been a game-changer. The dosage is clearly marked and the effects are felt almost as quickly as alcohol thanks to a technology called nanoemulsification, which turns the THC into tiny water-soluble droplets that are more rapidly absorbed by the body than traditional edibles.
Having a 5mg THC seltzer or infused cocktail in the evening scratches the 'I need to unwind' itch for me with seemingly no short-term negative effects, like a hangover. While I find THC doesn't deliver quite the dopamine rush alcohol does, low doses give me a relaxing warm fuzz, and have been great for my anxiety. Most importantly, it's helped me kick the alcohol habit; I've never felt healthier. Apart from the hefty price tag (one can costs $5-$7), these drinks feel a little too good to be true. So are they?
***
The short answer is: sort of. First, their legality is a little … hazy. Marijuana is still a controlled substance under federal law in the US, although some states have legalized it for recreational and/or medicinal purposes. But under the 2018 Farm Bill, any cannabis plant with less than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight is considered hemp and is no longer a controlled substance.
This loophole has birthed a booming market: THC beverages are expected to be a $4bn industry by 2028, according to Euromonitor International. (Even comedian Seth Rogen has jumped in with his own line of drinks, called Houseplant.) Depending on the state, you might find these drinks in grocery or liquor stores. Some brands sell online, but while hemp-derived THC is federally legal, this is a grey area, and some states have imposed restrictions on products containing it.
Whether birthing a THC product industry was an intention of the Farm Bill is unclear. 'Some independent attorneys argue it was,' says Hilary Bricken, a lawyer who specializes in cannabis. 'Others say absolutely not: the bill was meant to promote things like textiles, not consumer-facing drugs. But ultimately, it's enforcement, or the lack of it, that's allowed this market to develop the way it has.'
Related: California sober: what does it mean and is it good for you?
'There's no federal regulation unless a particular state steps in,' says Bricken. 'Some states, like Minnesota, regulate these products. Others, like California, have banned them entirely.' (In California, these unregulated hemp-derived THC products are banned, but THC products that comply with the state's cannabis regulations can legally be sold at cannabis dispensaries.)
But there are other risks to be aware of. 'Practices vary wildly between operators,' says Bricken. 'For the consumer, it's hard to tell what's actually in the drink. There's no federal standard, so it's essentially dealer's choice on the operator side. While the original hemp might have tested under the 0.3% THC threshold, post-harvest it can be transformed in ways that technically still comply with federal law. But many believe that most of what's being sold is synthetically derived, and potentially contains toxic compounds.'
Even in a best-case scenario where you're buying from a responsible operator, THC isn't as harmless as many believe. A recent study led by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found people who regularly used marijuana in either smokable or edible form had reduced blood vessel function comparable to tobacco smokers. This is associated with a greater risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular issues.
'We saw a 42% reduction in vascular function in marijuana smokers and 56% in THC edible users,' said lead study author Leila Mohammadi. 'The effect was dose-dependent: the more someone used per week, the worse their vascular function.' Worryingly, even relatively small doses of 2.5mg multiple times a week seemed to have a harmful effect. The study didn't look at drinkable THC; a single can typically contains 2.5-10mg, though some products have considerably more. But Mohammadi notes there's no reason to think drinkable products would be significantly different.
THC can also affect cognitive function, especially in adolescents, whose endocannabinoid systems – which interact with cannabinoids like THC and regulate critical bodily functions – are still developing. The long-term effects are complex, and research is ongoing, but one clearly documented risk of THC use in adolescence is in how the body handles fat, says Daniele Piomelli, a neuroscientist and leading cannabis researcher at the University of California at Irvine.
'In adolescents who use cannabis heavily, the fat in their bodies becomes dysfunctional. Normally, during times of stress or intense cognitive effort, the brain uses glucose for energy but can also tap into energy derived from fat. But frequent cannabis users often lose that ability,' notes Piomelli. That means they might find concentrating more difficult.
'There's a large body of evidence suggesting a link – not necessarily causation, but a strong association – between cannabis use in adolescence and increased risk of psychosis,' says Piomelli. And while these drinks are only supposed to be consumed by people over 21, adolescence for men is longer than women and 'really continues until 25 or 26'.
Even if you're an old crone like me, there are risks. A low-dosage THC drink now and again probably won't do much harm, but it's easy to accidentally go overboard. 'The real problem is that, like many things in the US, we don't do moderation well,' says Piomelli. 'Some of these seltzers now contain up to 100mg of THC. That's enough to send even an experienced user to the hospital if they're not expecting it. Not because THC is deadly – you can't overdose fatally on THC, even if you tried. But the experience can be incredibly unpleasant and disorienting, and recovery might take a couple of days.'
It doesn't help that the category is bringing in lots of inexperienced THC users, and dosage guidelines and risks often aren't made particularly clear. In states like New Jersey, you can find THC-infused beverages containing 25mg of THC (not a negligible amount!) in the grocery store, stocked next to seltzers and energy drinks. You can very easily imagine a scenario where someone downs one of these without knowing exactly what they're getting themselves into.
***
If you are intrigued by these beverages, experts say education and a slow start are critical. Start with 2.5mg or less and work your way up incrementally. While it's hard to generalize about effects, Piomelli notes that 'for a person in their 20s to 40s, weighing anywhere from 50-80kg (110-175lbs), 10-20mg of THC per serving would be enough to produce a noticeable buzz – definitely not enough to cause a full-blown high for someone who isn't a regular user.'
'I always say: know before you go,' says Harvard neuroscientist Staci Gruber, who directs the longest-running study of medical cannabis use in the United States. 'What's your goal? Are you looking for mild relaxation or trying to manage chronic pain? Your intention should guide your choice of product.'
Many of these THC drinks also include CBD, which is one of the main non-intoxicating components of cannabis, and alters the experience. 'Some research suggests CBD can mitigate some of THC's negative effects, like anxiety or paranoia,' Gruber explains. No matter the ratio, the dose of THC is what's really important. 'THC at low doses is often anxiolytic: it can reduce anxiety and make people feel more relaxed,' says Gruber. 'But at higher doses, it becomes anxiogenic – it can actually cause anxiety. The problem is, what counts as a 'low dose' varies widely from person to person.'
Related: The wellness drink for sober people that some say they can't stop drinking
THC may have its risks but, just asking for a friend: is going California-sober still healthier than drinking alcohol? After all, alcohol heightens the risks of at least seven types of cancer and the World Health Organization has said no level of consumption is safe.
Unfortunately, scientists don't give black-and-white statements that affirm your life choices; they qualify things. And the answer to whether going California-sober is a harm-reduction strategy is: it depends.
'It really depends on the person,' says Ziva Cooper, director of the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Cannabis and Cannabinoids. Factors like someone's age, individual vulnerability and what they're doing while intoxicated can influence the effects, as can frequency and dose of ingestion. 'Some people may have a family history of psychosis or mood disorders,' says Cooper. 'Others may be using very high doses regularly.' But there are risks either way: 'Some are associated with frequent use, and others with being a novice user. One unexpected risk we're now seeing is cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome – basically, heavy users presenting to the ER with severe nausea and vomiting. That was completely off the radar a few years ago.'
Cooper notes that scientific research is still lagging behind the market. 'We need better data, more funding and more research, especially because half the adult population is using cannabis products in some form now,' she says.
***
Many THC startups, and their new users, are on a high, but they might be headed for a comedown. 'A lot of these hemp companies are acting like they're too big to fail, like they can't be touched,' says Bricken. 'Maybe that'll end up being true. But right now, nobody really knows how it will play out.' Hemp-derived THC is receiving a lot more scrutiny, and increased regulation – even possible prohibition – is on the horizon.
Last month, a key US House committee approved a spending bill, championed by the representative Andy Harris, a long-term prohibitionist, that walks back the legal definition of hemp. The bill still has to pass the House and Senate. But if it does get signed into law, the loophole these hemp-derived THC drink companies rely on will close, and they will have to stop operating in their current form.
Separately, Congress generally renews the Farm Bill, a mammoth piece of legislation that funds major agriculture and food programs in the US, every five years. The current bill, which contains the hemp loophole, expired in October 2023 and Congress has since passed two one-year extensions. While they could potentially extend for another year, there's a strong possibility that a new version will be debated later this year. When this happens, Bricken thinks, we'll see the hemp-derived THC loophole either get closed or distilled into some kind of regulatory framework.
'Hemp companies are scrambling to gain ground before anything changes,' notes Bricken. 'They're surprisingly well-organized from a lobbying perspective, and some factions in the alcohol industry support them. But prohibitionist groups are also lobbying hard.'
Xander Shepherd, co-founder of THC aperitif brand Artet (his 86-year-old grandmother's art adorns the bottles), says that flux in this sector is nothing new: 'I've almost become numb to the constant changes, whether it's the Farm Bill or state-level regulations. I try to remind myself it's kind of like two steps forward, one step back. But overall, I really believe the industry is moving in the right direction.'
While all of this is playing out, I'm going to continue sipping legal THC drinks – albeit with a little more caution than before. Going California-sober is clearly not the healthiest choice in the world but, speaking from a purely personal level, the highs currently outweigh the lows.
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