It’s the time of year when we are all thinking of eating more healthfully and many of us are considering reducing our alcohol intake because of it. Dry January has become popular over the last ten years, and, with it, an offering has appeared as an alternative: THC-infused drinks.
THC is the psychoactive substance found in cannabis. More specifically, it’s produced by the female part of the plant to dissuade animals from eating it, even though humans enjoy it! The compound is found as tetrahydrocannabinic acid in the raw plant, and has a bitter flavor that prevents consumption, but is also reasonably unstable, so gently heating it (or smoking the leaf) changes it into tetrahydrocannabinol, THC.
Humans have an array of cannabinoid receptors in the body. Briefly, the cells in our body have various channels to conduct electrical signals, and cannabinoids produced by the body (or consumed) switch these channels on and off, depending on how the particular cells are utilizing the channels. This has only really been studied since the 1980s, as cannabis has been deemed an illegal substance in many countries for assorted reasons. The therapeutic effects of cannabis have been widely known since early civilisations, used in Chinese, South Asian, and African medicine, as well as during Roman times, for various ailments, but most often for pain. THC is a reasonably gentle pain reliever (stops some electrical pain signals), and its sister cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), is a good anti-inflammatory (shuts down some immune-based inflammatory channels), so together, they work well on pain mitigation.
Ethanol works differently. The substance swamps our nervous system, depressing the ability of nerves to communicate with each other, and does this until our livers can remove it. In small amounts, it works similarly to THC, inducing slight euphoria, giving us the buzz we feel when we consume it. Both alcohol and THC can have side effects, but, like most things consumed in moderation, both substances have a pleasant effect on our bodies.
I spoke to one of our local purveyors, Mitch Ancona, to get his spin on THC drink popularity and whether people are choosing to drop alcohol for them. Mitch has been stocking them in his liquor stores since they became available, when they were largely unregulated, and continues to stock them now that our state has put more rules in place. He has seen a general downward trend in alcohol consumption, but doesn’t think that THC- and CBD-infused drinks will fill that gap. He doesn’t believe one can replicate the feeling you get with a few alcoholic drinks, live music, great food, in a wonderful place. “I think it adds a certain level of something, of energy,” he says.
Mitch recommends if you don’t already dabble in THC generally, take it slowly and work out your personal reaction “It’s right to treat it as alcohol, as I have done, since they appeared on the market,” he says. Maybe your dry January needs a little pick-me-up, and perhaps a THC-infused
drink is it! •
