Marijuana May Help Heavy Drinkers Cut Back On Alcohol, New Federally Funded Study Finds

Marijuana use is linked to lower alcohol intake and diminished cravings in
heavy drinkers, according to a new federally funded scientific paper.

The study, a full version of which was obtained by Marijuana Moment in a
pre-proof form, found that “for some individuals who drink heavily,
cannabis may serve as a substitute for alcohol,” adding that “craving
reduction is a potential mechanism through which this could occur.”

The authors, affiliated with Colorado State University, the University of
Colorado Boulder and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus,
say the project is the “first study to test effects of legal-market
cannabis on alcohol intake.”

They found that, on average, participants drank about 25 percent fewer
alcoholic beverages after using cannabis compared to when alcohol was
consumed alone. Noting the importance of the finding, they wrote that
marijuana “continues to rank as the most widely used substance among people
who drink alcohol.”

“Cannabis use was associated with a reduction in alcohol intake.”

For the clinical trial, scientists recruited 61 heavy drinkers who also use
cannabis several times a week. Each participant completed two sessions in a
mobile laboratory parked outside their homes—a workaround to federal
restrictions on handling legal marijuana in campus labs. In one lab, they
drank alcohol alone. In the other lab, they first used their own
legal-market cannabis before drinking. In both sessions, participants
received a standard “priming” drink and then had the opportunity to consume
up to four more.

When the researchers broke the group down further, they found that 23
participants, called “substituters,” drank significantly less after
cannabis use and reported a consistent drop in alcohol craving. Another 23
“non-substituters” drank the same amount or more, showing little change in
craving. Fifteen abstained from drinking altogether during both sessions.

“Findings from this novel human laboratory study provide initial support
for the idea that legal-market cannabis can serve as substitute for alcohol
among some individuals who engage in heavy drinking,” they concluded,
adding that “cannabis self-administration was associated with a significant
reduction in number of drinks” participants consumed.

“Those who drank less after cannabis reported greater decreases in alcohol
craving.”

While the results are promising, the authors warn about limitations to the
study’s parameters. They note that marijuana was always consumed before
alcohol, meaning the reverse order was not tested. The mobile lab, while an
innovative way to avoid threatening federal funds for the universities, may
not mimic real-world drinking settings. They also note that the sample was
not broadly representative, comprising mostly white and male subjects.

The authors call for “future work to explore additional individual and
contextual factors that may predict whether cannabis can serve as a
substitute for alcohol,” noting the importance of studying clinical
implications for recovery approaches among those who are not abstinent.
With alcohol misuse remaining a leading cause of preventable death,
researchers say this line of work could eventually inform harm reduction
strategies.

This study preprint, submitted to the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence
and funded by the National Institutes on Health’s National Institute of
Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, is part of a flurry of recent scientific
studies on the effects of marijuana use as a way to curb or reduce drinking.

“Self-administering cannabis before alcohol significantly reduced alcohol
consumption compared to when alcohol was offered without cannabis.”

In a study earlier this year, scientists at the University of Sydney
published a paper investigating the theory that non-intoxicating
cannabidiol could mitigate problematic drinking issues. The research,
published in the journal British Journal of Pharmacology with funding from
the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, found that “CBD
represents a promising candidate to reduce voluntary alcohol consumption.”

According to a federally funded study published in the journal Nature
earlier this year, CBD has potential to treat alcohol use disorder by
reducing withdrawal symptoms and lowering the risk of relapse while also
providing neuroprotective effects. The results of that study “underscore
CBD’s potential therapeutic utility for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and
provide mechanistic insights into its actions,” they noted.

This also comes at a time when younger Americans are increasingly using
cannabis-infused beverages as a substitute for alcohol—with one in three
millennials and Gen Z workers choosing THC drinks over booze for after-work
activities like happy hours, according to a new poll of 1,000 young
professionals.

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Federally Funded Study Finds appeared first on Marijuana Moment.