Completely lost my desire for alcohol since starting medical cannabis

[Principal Guy]

I retired and got my medical card and have completely lost my desire for drinking alcohol. Used to abuse alcohol every Friday night after a tough week and then would abstain until the next Friday. Started using cannabis pills and tincture and had a bad experience with combining alcohol and edibles. All desire to drink has left me. I will choke down a beer or wine to appease my wife but would MUCH prefer cannabis. Not complaining as I sure don’t miss the Saturday hangovers. Anyone else heard of or have a similar experience?

 

[DrJynx86]

I had my first drinks at 24+ old but got to drink everyday (and heavily) during the pandemic (34 years old then), and quit entirely +20 months ago.

I can definitely say that Cannabis and Alcohol don't mix well in me, I tend to blackout a lot and do stupid things, and also alcohol truly made me feel stupider and losing brain power and I was attributing that to cannabis.

 

[Farid]

I made the decision to quit drinking because it's bad for epilepsy. If I didn't use cannabis I think that it would have been much harder. With cannabis at least I have an alternative doc. I still will have a sip of whiskey to numb a sore throat, or a very rare half glass of wine with dinner.

When I did drink, I always found that cannabis helped keep my drinking in check. If I had a smoke after an evening of drinking, I'd suddenly lose the desire to keep going, and call it a night. At times I'd actually avoid smoking if I wanted to keep going.

 

[Knewt]

I was a heavy tequila drinker for 30 years. I developed pre-diabetic neuropath. I quit drinking tequila, maintained the weed regimen and I will drink a beer once a week or so. I liked good tequila so my weed habit is less expensive.

 

[chlorophyll_man]

I stopped drinking alcohol about 6 years ago, not sure I'd have been able to do that without cannabis.
The thought of having a hangover nowadays frightens me so much, I'm too scared to touch a drop of alcohol.

 

[Goneja]

I stopped drinking alcohol at the beginning of this year. I drank daily for years along with smoking and/or vaping cannabis. I don't miss the hangovers or the expensive bar or liquor store bills either.

I've cut back on my cannabis use substantially as well. I don't use all day anymore, I keep it to a bowl or two in the evenings along with occasional edibles. I feel a lot happier and healthier due to all of this.

 

[Ganjora]

Stopped drinking on sunday 16 September 2018.
Cannabis was legalized on 18 September 2018.
I used to be a functional alcoholic.
I have not had another drink, and have zero desire to have another.
Thank god for cannabis!!!

 

[florduh]

I think cannabis and a little booze is great for a night out. The alcohol sort of balances out any social anxiety from weed. And you don't need to drink as much poison to catch a buzz.

But I much prefer cannabis to booze. I could never drink again and be quite happy. The only reason I really ever drink is that a little "light alcoholism" is treated as a normal way to be in basically every social circle I've been a part of. Virtually every activity they do involves some booze.

I don't remember when this happened, but it's been a while now. For people of a certain age, weekend breakfast has transformed into "brunch". It's the same breakfast food as before, but now you also get blackout drunk on cheap champagne too. I think it's a nutty way to spend a Sunday, but I guess it beats church.

If we are only going to have one legal recreational drug, we sort of fucked up making it alcohol. The world would be much better if we opted for cannabis instead. I've lived in plenty of downtown areas with lots of bars. If you're sober (or just the good kind of high) walking through one of those areas at night... it's insane. Shouting, fist fights, puking, chicks falling all over themselves. Basically every horrible lie Fox News says about weed is actually true about booze.

 

[GetLeft]

Interesting thread!

I've always used cannabis and alcohol for different reasons so the use of one doesn't really affect the use of the other. I use alcohol to deaden my brain and my nerves at then end of the day. My job (I retired around 6 weeks ago) involved a significant ammount of interaction with others and I'm not a naturally outgoing or social person so while I liked my job for the most part, it took its toll on my psyche and alcohol helped me manage that. Since retiring, I'm not jumping at my beer stash as unwaveringly as before. I can even imagine myself abstaining willingly before too long, which will definitely be a milestone for me. That's something that never would happen when I worked.

My desire/need to use cannabis has also diminished recently. It's usually not until later in the day before I start to want to indulge. While working, I used cannabis at the first opportunity.

When consumed with moderation, there is a wonderful synergy between beer and cannabis which I don't think I'll ever forego entirely.

 

[macbill]

I was 14 when I began Alcohol and Cannabis. I don't recommend that others begin so early. I finally gave up both 9/15/86 (for fear of alcohol), and it wasn't until 1988 when I started to reintroduce cannabis back in my life. Now, I recognize that all my addictive alcohol schtick has transferred to cannabis: at least I'm alive and not bothering anyone. I'm truly Cali-sober.

 

[cvs8floz]

I was a daily rum drinker for about 10 years before weed was legalized in 2016, it took me about another year to find a quality vaporizer (Mighty) and to grow decent weed and after that, my desire for alcohol went to zero and has stayed there. I find I cannot get to more than 50% of where I need to be with alcohol, the pleasure I get from vaping 2 to 3 bowls of fresh material with a heavy hitter like the B1 cannot be duplicated with alcohol, not even close. Weed is also so much easier on your system if used responsibly, I normally feel refreshed the next day, not hung over. I understand it is a bit awkward socially to always say no when a drink is offered but I never really liked the taste of alcohol so I don't feel I am missing anything.

 

[goldfinger]

I've quit drinking entirely, and feel literally zero desire to restart. I don't even have one, because what's the point?

 

[hinglemccringleberry]

The thought of having a hangover nowadays frightens me so much, I'm too scared to touch a drop of alcohol.

Nooo shit man. Sometimes I get nauseous just thinking about drinking..

 

[GoldenBud]

Can't miss the days when somebody in our friends or friends-of-friends was drinking alcohol and smoking nic/weed, spending his last part of the evening so wasted or on the floor or something..... yuck.... it's unhealthy to be a teenager
and hangover is so sux i don't miss it too..

 

[710yota]

I actually attribute the fact that I've never really gotten into drinking (I've drank less then 12 beers in almost 30 years of life) was because I started smoking cannabis fairly early before I had ever tasted alcohol and never felt like I was "missing out" not drinking when I had such a great alternative. It's really been a anti gateway drug for me!

 

[hardlawjockey]

I always thought that pot and beer paired perfectly together but on April 23 of this year I had some kind of weed-inspired epiphany about the alchohol part of the equation. My body had been telling me for a long time that it was time to quit and it was like the pot triggered something in my brain that finally told me to listen and quit procrastinating about it. So I did and haven't had a drink since. Haven't even been tempted.

I still sometimes drink a non-alcoholic beer while I'm smoking my pipe before bed however. The taste still does pair well with weed and I really can't tell the difference between just high vs drunk and high anymore. Feels just the same.

 

[ChipNJ]

I still have a glass or two of wine each night, but since I ended my 25 year weed tolerance break (due to my job drug testing that ended when NY legalized in 2021) I have not had any hard liquor. I use to enjoy mostly Cognac and would switch to good Scotch occasionally, but I do plan a total cut of alcohol for 2023. Maybe a good New Years resolution... I currently vape ~0.1 grams over two days. Prior to my job that drug tested I use to smoke ~.5 grams daily and did not drink at all (I don't see vaping that much). I remember being at a party when I was like 20 and everybody was drunk and I was just stoned and saying to myself, I will never drink again (one memory I still have 30+ years later from that party is a guy microwaving a raw hamburger patty and eating it, and It looking revolting). Didn't drink a drop until I started my drug testing job at ~28. Now at 53, I see me returning to just weed in my near future.

 

[PeteyS]

Careful my friend. Cannabis can be habit forming just as much as drinking.
I smoked weed for 15 years and then eventually quit cold turkey, only to pick up a nasty drinking habit shortly after.
Not trying to rain on your parade, but the flower needs to be respected.

Having said that, I think that cannabis is much safer in general then alcohol. So good on you for giving up the liquid courage.

 

[DrJynx86]

Cannabis forms an habit for sure, but that's not as nocive habit like drinking poison in small doses.

Also alcohol has a withdrawal syndrome that can be so harmful it kills if the patient is alcoholic enough, with cannabis that cannot happen, the worst ever is having bad mood and feeling flu-like symptoms.

But in terms of the proper definition of addiction, which is dependency with damage, I think cannabis harms a lot when you stop doing other things just to get high, like going out/socializing, working or getting better in your career, money problems, etc

 

[PeteyS]

Yeah that is such a good point that I didn't really think about it.
Cannabis has a high potintial for its user to disconnect, while alcohol in general has the opposite effect where it helps users be much more social.
Ive never seen a pothead rage on anyone, or anything. Haha.