“I’m definitely not alone. They call it “Cali Sober”. I found that once an edible kicks in I have about 10 minutes to get somewhere before I fall asleep.”
It’s just a few days into January and somehow I got pressured into doing Dry January this year. Dry January, if you haven’t heard of it, is exactly what it sounds like: 31 days of going alcohol free. No glass of wine with dinner, no Bloody Mary soaked brunches, and definitely no shots. What’s the point? The feelings on this are pretty mixed. When it started out in as a small campaign in the UK in 2013, it was all very niche. These days supporters tout it as a way to cleanse the body’s system and reset for the rest of the year, while detractors just think it’s a smug way to get attention from strangers. I was goaded into this by a friend who’s always doing challenges, but never wants to do them alone. She suggested we give up alcohol, and tired of feeling a little sluggish and bloated from the holidays, I agreed. I decided to give up alcohol for a month, but we said nothing about pot. I decided that leaves me some room to spice up my sober curious lifestyle by making some pot-laced dietary choices that make me feel relaxed, but not hungover. I’m definitely not alone. They call it “Cali Sober”.
With so much access to cannabis these days, lots of people are switching to this lifestyle, and I’m definitely one of them. To stock up for going alcohol free, I loaded up with weed laced gummies, mints, chocolates, and a little bit of flower. I got it all from Select by word from another friend who always brags about the high quality product she gets from her guy there. The first thing I noticed was that, even though I had the upfront costs for my wares, it was still less then I normally spend in a month. Once I made the mistake of tracking the cost of my alcohol purchases over a month. At $50-$100 spent on alcohol going out 2-3 times a week, I spent way too much and almost gave up drinking back then. My stuff from Select was amazing quality at a mere fraction of the cost.
So far, I’ve noticed that not only are my pockets heavier, but I’m sleeping better and I haven’t had a hangover this month and oversleeping isn’t really a thing for me right now. I’ve even had the energy to get up and work out in my garage this week. So in all, I’m feeling kind of amazing. And I don’t feel like a social outcast, which, I’ll admit, was behind my reluctance go totally dry. Honestly, I had enough of that in 2020. But even though most of my social engagements are at home these days, I do like the feeling of having “something”.
It hasn’t been a total walk in the park. I found that once an edible kicks in I have about 10 minutes to get somewhere before I fall asleep. Also I have to admit that in my personal idea of my ideal self, I never saw myself as a person who smokes weed as much as I have been lately. Why? Call it a hangover from those DARE seminars from my childhood. Everyone has an idea of their ideal self, and maybe I’m just being neurotic about it. Whether that’s normal or I’m overdoing it, I don’t quite know yet. I haven’t decided whether I’m going to tell my friend that I’m more Cali Sober than Dry January, but I’ll tackle that in February. For now, I’m figuring out my pot consumption and I’m kind of loving it.
