Demi Lovato, Post Malone, Chris Stapleton, Billy Strings and Willie Nelson have all sung about “California Sober”.
What does that mean – and is it healthier then Alcohol?
You don’t have to come from California to be ‘California sober’, but experts say that you have to know the risks of the lifestyle.
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It originated with the idea that people switch from alcohol to a “safer” alternative with the help of products based on cannabis, according to Dr. Cara A. Poland, Addiction Medicine Arts At the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

“California Sober” comes from the idea that people switch from alcohol to a “safer” alternative with the help of products based on cannabis. (Istock)
Some who initially identified with the term now have a different view of what austerity really means.
After an almost fatal drug overdose, singer and actress Demi Lovato openly shared her battle with addiction and her own version of “California Sober” in 2021, but later said she had realized “Sober Sober Sober is the only way to be,” said reports.
“Users who strive for ‘Cali Sober’ must understand the medical and psychiatric risks of cannabis. “
“Users who strive for ‘Cali Sober’, the medical and Psychiatric risks From cannabis, as well as the problem of processing emotions and the increased risk of relapse for a person’s choice, “Dr. Lori Karan, director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship to Loma Linda University in California, told Fox News Digital.
What about ‘California sober’
Journalist Michelle Lhooq is said to have come up with the expression when she wrote a 2019 -essay about moving from New York to California to “save themselves” in an article for Vice.com, to limit her drug use to only marijuana and psychedelics.
Because Marijuana was already legal in California at the time, she wrote: “I call this ‘Cali Sober’, a term that some people also use when they stop anything but weed.”

“There is growing scientific evidence that no amount of alcohol is good for you,” warned an expert. (Istock)
“California Sober ‘is generally a term used by people who replace a’ more harmful ‘substance with a’ less harmful ‘substance,” Polen said.
“People must be careful with this idea to replace one substance for the other, while it is known to cause both Drug use disorders And are not validated treatment options. “
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People can consider a substance as less harmful, but the risk of adverse consequences for the body depends on how that substance influences the individual, Poland added.
The concept can also maintain the unhealthy relationship that people develop with their favorite material (s).

Shifting one medicine for the other ignores instead of solving the underlying problems, it is usually not a good long-term solution, an expert said. (Istock)
“People use addictive substances to modulate how they feel without trusting interactions with other people or events,” Karan noted.
“The short-circuit of this feedback loop can hide unsolved trauma, interfere with family and career and cause emotional arrest. “
Switching one medicine for another ignores instead of solving the underlying problems, it is usually not a good long-term solution, according to Karan.
Potential risks of alcohol
Earlier research has been linked alcoholic beverages Up to at least seven types of cancer, including the mouth, throat, voice box, esophagus, liver, colon and chest.
In 2019 and 2020, 72% of American adults reported to consume one or more drinks per week, but less than half were aware of the relationship between alcohol and cancer risk, according to studies.

Experts encourage people who struggle with addiction, including alcohol consumption disorder, to first consult their doctor for treatment options. ((Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images))
Surgeon-General Vivek Murthy has recently issued a health advice in which is called for warning labels about alcoholic beverages about the potential Cancer riskFox News Digital reported earlier.
“There is growing scientific evidence that no amount of alcohol is good for you,” warned Poland.
However, some say that the current concept of austerity cannot be a one-size-fits-all model.
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Although some people need complete abstinence, others can notice that cutting alcohol but still participating in what Marijuana use helps them to “stay in balance”, according to Kim Gamez, founder of Sober (ISH), an online marketplace who sells a hemp-off-decired mix that may be that may be that added to every drink For a “relaxing buzz without alcohol.”
Gamez from Michigan shared that her mother fought for years against alcoholism, where alcohol was the ‘real demon’, but was able to achieve more balance in her life when she found hemp-derived products.
“Before we discovered hemp-derived drinks together, she often felt omitted during social meetings where drinking was the norm,” she told Fox News Digital. “Now, with a cocktail infused by hemp, she is part of the party-without the risk, regret or the relapse.”
Gamez noted that this type of choice is not about replacing one vice by the other – it is about one Healthy alternative That works for the individual.
Potential risks of marijuana
Karan warned that there is a lot of public wrong information about cannabis, with many unanswered safety questions – especially given the increased potential of today’s cannabis products compared to those of the 1970s.
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People naturally produce chemicals that are comparable to the molecules in a cannabis plant, which are around the Body and brain According to Harvard Health to help balance vital functions such as learning, memory, sleep, pain and temperature.
More research is needed to fully understand the size of this activity, Karan noted.

“Cannabis can cause memory problems, paranoia, psychosis, nausea and vomiting, and a large number of other problems,” warned an expert. (Istock)
“Cannabis can cause memory problems, paranoia, psychosis, nausea and vomiting, and a large number of other problems,” she warned.
Experts encourage people wrestling with addictionIncluding alcohol consumption, to first consult their doctor for treatment options.
This often includes a combination of behavioral therapy and medicines to reduce the risk of overdose, relapse and desires.
“People use addictive substances to modulate how they feel without trusting interactions with other people or events.”
There are currently three FDA approved medicines For alcohol consumption: Naltrexon, which dampens the pleasant effects of alcohol; Disulfiram, which makes people sick when they drink; and acamprosate, which restores the imbalance in the brain related to the withdrawal of alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and alcohol (Niaaa).
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Of the millions who struggle with alcohol addiction, research shows that less than 10% who need the treatment actually gets it.
Fox News Digital reached for the Demi Lovato team for comment.