California Sober? Why Replacing Alcohol with Weed May Not Be Safer

When I was a teenager, my mother died of alcoholism. For a year before she died, my mother’s skin and eyes were yellow, not sallow and looking a bit unhealthy, but real yellow, like the butter cups on the wallpaper in our kitchen. I didn’t know why this was happening. There was no internet then, so no way to look something up online, and it was far too shameful to ask for help.  

The way I dealt with my fear and shame was to drink a lot and do copious amounts of drugs. Thank goodness, I eventually found my way into recovery so my own children never had to watch me turn yellow! Today we know what happens when people drink too much alcohol. The fact that alcohol is a toxic substance is well-documented.

The New York Times did a snappy, easy to digest piece about how alcohol impacts our bodies:

From the moment you take a sip, drinking starts to influence your biology…

In the brain, alcohol changes the activity of two neurotransmitters, and suppresses brain activity.

When brain activity, especially in the frontal cortex, is inhibited your actions become disinhibited.

That’s why you don’t have as much self-control when you drink and may say or do things you wouldn’t otherwise.

In the mouth, alcohol changes into a compound called acetaldehyde, which is incredibly toxic to humans and is classified as a human carcinogen. It can actually modify DNA, potentially leading to cancer-causing mutations. There is a risk of four types of cancer in the mouth and upper digestive tract: oral, pharyngeal (throat), laryngeal (voice box) and esophageal. The mouth, throat and esophagus are particularly vulnerable since those tissues have some of the greatest exposure to acetaldehyde.

In the heart, regular alcohol use is associated with higher blood pressure and an increased risk of hypertension. Alcohol can also disrupt the heart’s electrical system, and heavy drinking can cause atrial fibrillation

Estrogen levels in the body are impacted by alcohol. This may be why, women having just one drink a day, increases the odds of developing breast cancer by 10 percent, and two drinks a day raises them by 19 percent.

In the gut, alcohol’s effects range from unpleasant to potentially deadly. Long term, heavy alcohol use can damage the intestinal lining, leading to gastrointestinal bleeding and “leaky gut syndrome,” where food and microbes escape the intestines and enter the bloodstream. Tissues in the gastrointestinal tract are also prone to alcohol-related cancer. 

The liver is probably the organ most vulnerable to damage from drinking. Alcohol-related liver disease is the leading cause of death from excessive drinking. Enzymes in the liver convert alcohol into acetaldehyde (that same toxic substance). In response to the damage caused by acetaldehyde, fat deposits start to build up in the liver, resulting in inflammation and fatty liver disease. If the inflammation goes on for too long, scar tissue can develop, which could lead to liver cirrhosis (the reason my mother turned yellow with jaundice). Like in other parts of the body, heavy drinking also increases the risk of cancer in the liver, because of the DNA damage caused by acetaldehyde.

So, the evidence is clear and not surprising: alcohol is toxic to the human body. And, gratefully, the evidence is now widely available.  Recently, I met a woman at a meeting, and we were talking about how much more information there is now regarding women’s health and drinking. And we were both grateful that the info is so widely available now. But then she said something I was not expecting: that she smokes weed almost daily. That surprised me. I hadn’t read much about how cannabis is affecting people’s health, so I did a bit of research. It seems as if my friend from the meeting is not alone. As cannabis becomes more widely legalized and socially accepted, many people in alcohol recovery believe that using marijuana is a safer alternative to drinking. It even has a nickname: California Sober. But is it actually safer?

An interesting article in the New York Times outlined some of the ways it is not safer. Unsurprisingly, legalization has led to wider use of marijuana. And with this wider use, more problems are arising:

This wider use has caused a rise in addiction and other problems. Each year, nearly 2.8 million people in the United States suffer from cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, which causes severe vomiting and stomach pain. More people have also ended up in hospitals with marijuana-linked paranoia and chronic psychotic disorders. Bystanders have also been hurt, including by people driving under the influence of pot.

A big part of the problem is the potency: Today’s cannabis is far more potent than the pot that preceded legalization. In 1995, the marijuana seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration was around 4 percent THC, the primary psychoactive compound in pot. Today, you can buy marijuana products with THC levels of 90 percent or more. As the cliché goes, this is not your parents’ weed. 

So, what is actually happening to our bodies when we smoke or consume cannabis now?

In the brain, the effects are far reaching:

Neuroimaging studies show THC disrupts activity in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex; it alters neurotransmitter release in brain regions responsible for memory, coordination, and judgment.  The effects include: Impaired short-term memory, altered judgment, impaired motor coordination, and often increased anxiety or paranoia. And long-term or heavy use can lead to: Persistent cognitive impairment, Increased risk of psychiatric disorders, including psychosis, and even structural and functional brain changes.

In the lungs, cannabis smoke can cause major problems. Cannabis smoke contains many of the same toxins and carcinogens as tobacco smoke. Smoking marijuana can lead to: Chronic bronchitis, airway inflammation, increased cough and sputum production.  And there is substantial evidence linking long-term cannabis smoking with chronic bronchitis, and even an increased risk of lung cancer.

In the heart, the risks that cannabis pose are not dissimilar to the risks posed by alcohol. THC can: Increase heart rate (tachycardia), cause vasodilation, and increase cardiac workload.

The immune system is also impacted. Some studies suggest it may suppress certain immune responses. It may also affect hormone levels, potentially influencing: Reproductive hormones, fertility and menstrual cycle regulation.

But the question for me remains – are people recovering from alcohol use disorder (AUD) at greater risk of developing cannabis addiction than the general population?

Research suggests the answer is probably yes — for several biological, psychological, and behavioral reasons. First of all, there is a shared addiction vulnerability.

Addiction is not simply about a single substance. It involves underlying changes in brain circuitry related to reward, impulse control, stress response, and decision-making. Those of us with a history of alcohol use disorder often have: Heightened reward sensitivity, reduced impulse control, altered dopamine signaling, and stronger stress-reactivity.

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Lane Kennedy wrote a brilliant piece about weed, DNA and addiction:

When you stop drinking but keep smoking weed, you’re not necessarily in the clear; you may just be talking to the same brain circuits in a different chemical language. Some people carry gene changes (single‑letter “spelling” changes in their DNA) in their cannabis receptors and brain‑signaling genes that make THC hit harder, feel more intense, and carry a higher risk for anxiety, paranoia, or even psychosis. For example, small variations in the cannabinoid receptor gene CNR1 (like a SNP called rs1049353) and in a signaling gene called AKT1 (rs2494732) have been linked to stronger mood changes, anger, and much higher psychosis risk in regular cannabis users, especially daily users. In plain English: the same joint that your friend uses to “relax” may flip your brain into red‑alert mode, depending on your blueprint.

Alcohol has its own genetic story, which helps explain why some people move from the bottle to the bong. Genes like ADH1B and ALDH2 control how fast your body breaks alcohol into acetaldehyde (the nasty, toxic part) and then clears it; some versions of these SNPs (like ADH1B rs1229984 and ALDH2 rs671) cause acetaldehyde to spike quickly, leading to flushing, nausea, and a built‑in “yuck, never again” response that actually lowers alcoholism risk, while other versions keep drinking feeling smoother and are linked to heavier use and more alcohol‑related disease. When someone with a “smooth” alcohol genotype gets sober but has a cannabis‑sensitive genotype in CNR1 or AKT1, switching to weed can keep the addiction circuitry alive and well—just with a different substance at the wheel. This is where your DNA becomes a powerful flashlight: understanding your personal variants can help you see that “only smoking now” might still be stressing your brain, nervous system, and long‑term recovery, and opens the door to using food, supplements, peptides, and mindfulness instead of THC to bring your body back toward homeostasis.

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So, if you or your friends in recovery are considering joining the California Sober movement, I hope you’ll think again. Your body will thank you! 

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Dedicated columns on this TSC channel:

• Break Free Foundation – Scholarships & Support for Recovery with Sober Curator Contributor Alexandra Nyman
• Codependency – Insights & Recovery with Sober Curator Contributor Dr. Sarah Michaud
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• Mental Health – Emotional Wellness in Recovery
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• Sober Not Subtle with Sober Curator Contributor Jason Mayo
• Sober Poetry – Recovery in Verse
• Speak Out! Speak Loud! – Stories & Creative Expression in Recovery
• Spiritual Substance – Mindfulness, Science & Soul with Senior Sober Curator Contributor Lane Kennedy
• Wellness As A Way of Life – Sustainable Health for Powerful Women with Senior Sober Curator Contributor Megan Swan

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