Getty | IURII BUKHTA Alcohol is *not* having a moment: Dry January is booming. The sober-curious movement continues to pick up steam. And now, for the doozy: the Surgeon General released a warning linking alcohol directly to cancer after the World Health Organization declared any amount of alcohol consumption as unsafe.
If you’re looking to get your buzz elsewhere, there’s an alternative to alcohol popping up seemingly everywhere in the form of t etrahydrocannabinol ( THC ) drinks. Yes, we’re talking about weed-infused beverages, which have grown exponentially in popularity thanks to a so-called "loophole" in the 2018 Farm Bill declassifying hemp as a Controlled Substance (more on that later).
These drinks, which typically contain anywhere from 1mg of THC to 10mg of THC per serving, promise to deliver a feeling similar to a glass of wine sans the side effects of alcohol. But are they any healthier than drinking your favorite cocktail? Here’s what you need to know about the risks and benefits, according to an MD and three cannabis experts. Experts Featured in This Article:
Emily Kyle , MS, RDN, is a cannabis educator for Emily Kyle Enterprises, Inc.
Brynna Connor , MD, is the healthcare ambassador at NorthWestPharmacy.com.
Jake Bullock , is the co-founder and CEO of Cann.
Hilary Bricken , is a partner and cannabis business attorney at Husch Blackwell. What’s in THC Beverages, Exactly?
THC drinks typically refer to beverages that contain the cannabinoid Delta-9 . If you’ve ever gotten "high" before by smoking or ingesting marijuana, it’s likely because of Delta-9 and the psychoactive effects it can have in high doses. Many drinks on the market, like popular brands Cann and Wynk , also include cannabidiol (CBD), which does not make you high and can help with things like anxiety.
"CBD should help sort of soften the effects of the THC," says Cann co-founder and CEO Jake Bullock, which is why Cann includes CBD alongside THC in their drinks. "It’s another mechanism we have incorporated to make these products more mild, approachable, and social," he tells PS. Some drinks, like Cann, have a 2:1 ratio of […]
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