Dry January: Sober Cheers to a Healthy 2024
By Jeremiah Gardner
NOTE: This was published for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation’s monthly Recovery Advocacy Update. If you’d like to receive our advocacy emails, subscribe today.
A recent news roundup entitled, “Tips for a booze-free January” included more info on where to get THC beverages than it did on health or why people might choose to participate in Dry January. It even attempted to coin a new term: “those going ‘Minnesota sober’ can find the buzz-inducing (THC) beverages pretty much everywhere these days.” Given that Minnesota is often referred to as the abstinence-based recovery capital of the world, the idea of “Minnesota sober” (i.e. no alcohol just cannabis, as California Sober was previously coined) meaning anything other than abstinent from all drugs is quite a stretch. And talking about Dry January without talking about health misses the mark, too.
When it comes to addiction specifically, we too often get caught up in addressing one drug in isolation. We talk only about alcohol. Or we talk only about marijuana. Or we talk only about opioids. While there are unique aspects to them all, when it comes to problematic use, you really have to think about them together.
I certainly applaud and encourage anyone who decides to give up alcohol for any length of time, regardless of whatever else they may or may not be consuming or giving up. But after watching profit-minded cannabis interests epically oversell perceived benefits of marijuana use over the past 25 years, while even more epically underselling the risks, it’s frustrating to see signs of the industry co-opting something like Dry January. Reading the tips referenced above, one gets the impression Dry January is more about changing your buzz than improving your health. Seems it also may reflect a trendy hostility against the idea of total abstinence from non-prescribed substances and/or persistent stigma against those with substance use disorders, who often find themselves needing to pursue total abstinence, or sobriety, because it reduces the risk of recurring symptoms the most.
While alert to such concerns and annoyances, I’m still thrilled to read and hear so many stories — close to home and all over the country — of people discussing and examining their relationships with alcohol. And at least there’s some talk of a Weed-Free January. As the Dry January tradition continues, my hope is that the focus will stay predominantly on health and that, therefore, total sobriety will always be lifted up as a reasonable, very possible, respected, and healthy option.
See also: Further Reflections on Dry January.
Jeremiah Gardner is director of communications and public affairs for the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.
