California sober? Researchers test marijuana for curbing drinking : Shots

Can smoking weed make people drink less alcohol?

In an elaborate and provocative experiment, scientists handed out joints and free drinks to see if the idea, sometimes called “California sobriety,” could stand up to scientific scrutiny.

A new study offers some of the strongest evidence yet suggesting that smoking weed does, at least in the short term, reduce drinking.

the findings were published V American Journal of Psychiatry on Wednesday — and are sure to raise questions about the benefits of replacing one of these substances with the other, especially given growing public health concerns about the popularity of cannabis.

And for now, the researchers are cautious about making any recommendations based on their findings.

“We're not prepared to tell people seeking treatment for alcohol to go ahead and replace cannabis and it will work for you,” says Jane Metrickprofessor of behavioral and social sciences at Brown University who led the study.

But the study brings scientists closer to understanding the link between the two substances at a time when many people are relying on marijuana to cut down on drinking without waiting for evidence.

“This study really moves the field forward by helping to address one of the outstanding questions in the literature,” says Jeff WardellProfessor of Psychology at York University. “This gives us more confidence that there is a real effect here.”

Get high on science

In Brown's study, the team went to great lengths to replicate real-world drug and alcohol use circumstances while maintaining a strictly controlled study that could indicate cause and effect.

They built a bar-like lab with comfortable seating and a tap, and made sure each participant had their favorite alcoholic drink on hand.

“We wanted to make sure that when the opportunity presented itself, you would actually want to drink,” says Metrick, who ended up spending a lot of time driving between liquor stores in search of specialty varieties and spirits.

The experiment included three separate sessions. In one, participants smoked a joint of marijuana with higher levels of the psychoactive compound THC; in another they used a strain with lower activity; and finally, the researchers gave them a placebo with a small amount of THC, which was not enough to get them high.

After getting high in the designated smoking room, each participant spent the next two hours in a “laboratory bar” on their own, where they had the opportunity to drink up to eight mini-drinks.

People who smoked marijuana with a higher potency ended up drinking 27% less alcohol, and those with a lower potency ended up drinking about 19% less, compared to placebo. People who used cannabis also abstained from drinking alcohol.

“This is an important signal that we detect,” Metrick says. “This tells us that cannabinoids may have a potential therapeutic role in alcohol use disorders.”

Previous studies have shown that cannabis can reduce cravings for alcohol and reduce the amount people drink. But the results were largely inconclusive, in part because the data often comes from observational studies, which are less reliable and may be confounded by other factors. Animal studies have also pointed to potential biological mechanisms of marijuana's effects on alcohol; however, the question remains how applicable this is to humans.

The new study also builds on findings from a group of researchers in Colorado. reported earlier this year in a slightly different experiment.

Instead, participants picked up marijuana from a dispensary, smoked it at home, and then visited a mobile lab parked nearby where they were offered alcoholic beverages.

The amount people drank dropped by about 25% when they were already high. The cravings also decreased.

“All of these results add up to the same story,” says Carol HollisAnschutz, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado, who led the study. But she notes that big questions still remain about how far these new data can be extrapolated.

Replacing one problem with another?

One obvious limitation is that a person's behavior, when every sip he takes is under close surveillance, does not necessarily reflect what happens in a much freer, real-life social environment.

Additionally, Karolyi says that this pattern of reduction in alcohol consumption did not hold true for all participants in their study. For a minority of people, this actually led them to start drinking. more.

“It really highlights the fact that individual differences matter,” she says.

Another unanswered question concerns who is being studied.

Most people in Brown's study met criteria for cannabis use disorder, and about 40% met criteria for alcohol use disorder. This may indicate that their drug of choice was not necessarily alcohol, he says. Rajita SinhaProfessor of Psychiatry at Yale University.

For people suffering from alcoholism, cannabis power be a potential treatment, she says. On the other hand, such an approach “could also increase cannabis use, which would be problematic.”

“When you're in the throes of daily cannabis use, it's very difficult to break the habit,” she says.

Contributors to this work acknowledge the tensions in this line of research.

Cannabis does not carry the same risk of extreme harm as alcohol, which is the leading cause preventable death rate in the United States and kills more than 170,000 people per year.

But Wardell says cannabis is clearly “not a harmless substance.”

Although research into its effects has not kept pace with its growing popularity, studies have shown that marijuana can impair cognitive function and memory, cause serious gastrointestinal syndrome causing nausea and vomiting, increase the risk of psychosis and other mental illnesses, and affect relationships and social functioning.

And Wardell says this latest study doesn't really tell us whether the negative effects of alcohol are worse than cannabis in the long term.

“We'll have to choose which one is less harmful for a particular person, and make sure it's not just accidentally replacing one problem with another,” he says.

As a clinical psychologist, Brown's Metrick has seen some patients with severe alcoholism who successfully quit drinking with the help of cannabis, although some subsequently developed problems with the drug.

She believes the problem now is that many people rely on cannabis to treat their drinking problems without any guidance.

“We see this all the time and we don’t know what to tell them,” she says. “No clear message”