Can Non-Alcoholic Beer Really Help You Stay Sober?

Two questions I get frequently from my patients are, "What about using non-alcoholic beverages as something that maybe could help me stay away from drinking the real stuff, drinking alcohol, per se? And what about the use of cannabis? Do I have to avoid using cannabis if I'm trying to stop drinking or moderate my drinking?" So, as to the

first issue, what I see is that using non-alcoholic beverages can definitely help people quell their desire for the taste, particularly non-alcoholic beers, which for some people seem to be good substitutes, at least in social situations. They can be holding a drink along with everybody else. Non-alcoholic drinks are becoming increasingly popular. So, nothing to be ashamed of or

be self-conscious about. The concern that's raised is is it a way of keeping yourself a little too close to the substance you'd really like to have, which is, you know, real ethyl alcohol in a drink. I have not seen that. I have

not seen that non-alcoholic beer, for example, triggers people's desire to want to have the real thing. In my experience, at least what my patients have reported to me is just the opposite. It quells the desire. It makes

them feel comfortable. They stop thinking about it. And so, I think it's a good alternative for many people. What

about cannabis use? So, some people say, you know, I still have a desire to want to alter my mood state once in a while and obviously have been accustomed to doing it with alcohol. What if I use a gummy for example or some other cannabis product to achieve that end? Is there

any problem with that? And my response to that is, well, if you do so, obviously you should do it with caution. If you have a history of using cannabis products in a non-compulsive way where uh you've been able to limit your use and enjoy the experience once in a while, then I don't see why that by itself should interfere with your attempts to bring your alcohol problem under control. If you have any

experience at all of overusing the drug, even if it was years ago, I think you have to approach it very cautiously. But cannabis can quell that desire to want to alter your mood state. Feel like, you know, you're making less of a lifestyle sacrifice by giving up using alcoholic beverages and can still retain the ability to use a mood altering chemical every once in a while to relax or enjoy food, music, whatever it is that cannabis may enhance for you. uh as long

as it doesn't increase the liability that you'll develop a secondary problem and that is based largely on