The California sober lifestyle just got another point in its favor. A new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that smoking weed can help people consume less alcohol–at least in the short term. 

Here’s how it went down:

To evaluate whether weed can help people drink less booze, researchers gathered 157 adults aged 21-44, who reported heavy alcohol use and cannabis use two or more times per week. For three days, participants hung out in a cozy simulated bar and received randomized cannabis cigarettes with either 7.2% THC, 3.1% THC, or 0.03% THC (placebo). Then, researchers exposed them to neutral and personalized alcohol cues.

The researchers presented participants with a tray offering their preferred boozy drink or a small cash payment for each drink declined. Hopefully they sorted out participants’ rides home, as they gave them enough drinks to raise their blood alcohol level to about 0.10% during each two-hour session–on top of the weed. 

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More Weed Means Less Booze

Participants who smoked the lower potency joints ended up drinking about 19% less alcohol than the placebo. Those who smoked the highest THC joints ended up drinking even less, at a 27% reduction in alcohol consumption compared to those who smoked the placebo. 

Participants who smoked the higher THC joints waited longer before they sipped their first drink of alcohol compared to their placebo joint. Those who smoked both the high and low potency joints reported less immediate urges to drink when compared to their placebo counterparts. 

“What we found was consistent with this idea of the substitution effect popularized by the California sober trend. Instead of seeing cannabis craving and drinking, we saw the opposite. Cannabis reduced the urge for alcohol in the moment, lowered how much alcohol people consumed over a two-hour period and even delayed when they started drinking once the alcohol was available,” explained the study’s lead author, Jane Metrik, on Brown University’s Instagram page. 

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Metrik, a Brown University professor of behavioral and social science, noted that while the study is promising, it’s nowhere near definitive. 

“We’re not ready to tell people seeking treatment for alcohol, go ahead and substitute cannabis, and it will work out for you,” she told NPR.

How to Drink Less, Especially During the Holidays 

The holidays are a great time to evaluate your drinking habits, especially if you find yourself surrounded with stressful company and dinner topics. 

Many people use alcohol to unwind or relax at the end of the day. If you find yourself reaching for the beer after a long day, consider delaying that gratification with another relaxing option.

Kaiser Permanente suggests the following activities to help pull your focus away from alcohol: 

• “Walk or ride a bike before dinner.
• Meditate or stretch for 20 minutes at the end of the day.
• Color in a coloring book.
• Play a game on your phone.
• Reach out to a friend or neighbor to connect.
• Go to bed early (aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night).”

You could also consider swapping out your alcoholic beverages for cannabis drinks, instead, in the spirit of the newly published study. (I’m currently obsessed with Wynk’s Seasonal Cran Blood Orange seltzer, as its fast-acting effects make it a great alcohol replacement.)

There are other ways to cut back on the habit, too. Try making sure you drink an entire glass of water in between every alcoholic drink you consume. This can slow down the entire process and help you consume less overall. Plus, it never hurts to be well hydrated. 

Try to schedule in regular non-drinking activities, especially as the winter months take hold and the holiday chaos creeps in. Go to the gym, visit a museum, or volunteer somewhere with a cause you care about. 

Harvard Health also offers some great tips on drinking less. These include scheduling alcohol-free days, keeping a drinking diary, and making sure you don’t have any alcohol stocked up at your house. 

It never hurts to find a good therapist, too. If you’re new to the world of therapy, just know that it can take a bit of trial and error. Don’t be afraid to look for a new therapist if your current one isn’t doing the trick. 

And if you want to go the California sober route, you have a new study to back up your weed habit. 

THCa joints for the California Sober Lifestyle

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