Some think cannabis is safer than alcohol, and one study found that the plant may actually be able to reduce boozy cravings.

Historically, cannabis was portrayed as the scourge of humankind. Films like ‘Reefer Madness’ were coupled with other forms of propaganda and spread throughout the world. That propaganda had one goal —to demonize cannabis users. Cannabis consumers were portrayed in horrific ways that weren’t based, in fact, in an attempt to convince society that the ‘harms’ of cannabis were significant and factual.

The fact of the matter is that cannabis is much safer than many other legal substances, including and especially alcohol. One study found that cannabis was 114 times safer than alcohol. A more recent study found that cannabis may actually be able to reduce alcohol cravings.

CBD and Alcohol Consumption Study

The cannabis plant is composed of dozens of cannabinoids, with THC and CBD being the two most popular cannabinoids. CBD’s popularity has exploded in recent years, and for good reason. CBD is associated with many wellness benefits, including a potential reduction in alcohol consumption.

Alcohol abuse is a global issue, with over 100 million people suffering from alcohol use disorder worldwide. Roughly 3 million people die annually across the globe due to alcohol use. A team of researchers recently published the results of a study that explored the relationship between CBD use and alcohol use.

“The present study lends preliminary support to the notion that plant-based CBD may be associated with decreased alcohol consumption among regular cannabis users and suggests that it may be feasible for regular cannabis users to switch to a higher CBD, lower THC content cannabis strain to reduce their alcohol intake,” the study’s authors concluded.

Most adults living in the United States think CBD is safer than tobacco and alcohol, according to the findings of a new survey. Conducted by Harvard University and Politico, the survey found that just one in five Americans think marijuana is “very harmful” to those who use it.

Meanwhile, two in five say alcohol is harmful, and 80 percent said tobacco is harmful.

Those findings are especially noteworthy given that not long ago, marijuana wasn’t legal anywhere in the United States. Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard, said in a statement: “Ten years ago, we were jailing people for marijuana. Now people see this as not essentially very harmful.”

Making the Safer Choice

If you feel that you consume too much alcohol and are having a hard time cutting back or eliminating alcohol from your life, you should give CBD a try. By virtually every measure CBD is safe, and as the study linked above demonstrates, it’s effective for many people when it comes to reducing alcohol consumption.

Unlike THC (and alcohol), CBD is not associated with generating euphoric effects, which is important for people that want to refrain from feeling intoxicated. Thanks to cannabis reform victories in a laundry list of countries, CBD is now legal in many different forms and is widely available.