California Sober: Meaning, Research and New Jersey Rules

Merriam-Webster's slang dictionary gives the definition most people mean: California sober, “often styled Cali sober, describes someone who does not drink alcohol but instead uses cannabis (sometimes in addition to psychedelics such as LSD)” (Merriam-Webster). The one fixed part is no alcohol. What a person keeps is up to them, which is why two people using the phrase can mean different things.

According to The Guardian, the term “has been around for years, but picked up wider recognition around 2019, thanks in part to media coverage.” Two things kept it in the public ear:

• Demi Lovato. The singer identified as California sober in the docuseries Dancing with the Devil “before later opting for total abstinence,” The Guardian reports.
• The song. Billy Strings recorded California Sober featuring Willie Nelson, which is why many searches for the phrase are looking for lyrics.

People use the phrase in two different ways, and the difference matters for everything below. Some mean a lifestyle preference: they simply do not drink. Others use it while trying to get away from a substance that was causing them harm. The research and the cautions in this guide are mostly about the second group.

Not in the medical or recovery sense. The Guardian's reporting states it directly: “The medical definition of sobriety is abstinence from intoxicating substances, so California sober is a bit of a misnomer” (The Guardian). THC is intoxicating. Abstinence-based recovery programs do not count cannabis use as sobriety, and many addiction clinicians do not either.

Here is how the official definitions read:

• NIAAA (the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) defines recovery from alcohol use disorder as a process in which a person pursues both remission from the disorder and “cessation from heavy drinking.” Its definition is about alcohol and does not address cannabis. It adds that abstinence “is considered the safest course” for certain groups, including people who cannot maintain a non-heavy drinking level over time (NIAAA).
• SAMHSA (the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) defines recovery as “a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives, and strive to reach their full potential” (SAMHSA).

Neither of those pages uses the phrase “California sober.” It is not a clinical category.

What addiction specialists say

• Addiction psychiatrist Jared Harp, DO, told the Cleveland Clinic that California sober is “a selective sobriety model” inspired by harm reduction, and that “Cannabis is a drug that has addictive potential.” The clinic's summary: it is “not a plan of action based on scientific research” (Cleveland Clinic).
• Dr Ayana Jordan, an addiction psychiatrist at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, told The Guardian there are better ways to stop alcohol dependency than using cannabis, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or FDA-approved addiction medications. She does not recommend that people who were cannabis-free start using it to replace other intoxicants.
• Dr Ziva Cooper, director of the UCLA Center for Cannabis, told The Guardian that for someone who has linked the two, “the cannabis by itself might actually increase cravings for alcohol.”

The other side of the debate is harm reduction: the idea that lowering risk counts for something even when it falls short of abstinence. Dr Jordan told The Guardian “there is room for conversation” with a patient who already uses cannabis and is working on drinking less inside a broader treatment plan. That is a conversation between a patient and a clinician, not something a dispensary can or should decide.

Leaving alcohol out does not make what is left risk-free.

• The CDC says “approximately 3 in 10 people who use cannabis have cannabis use disorder” (CDC). NIDA puts the estimate at 22% to 30% and says the strongest predictor is how often someone uses it (NIDA).
• Signs the CDC lists include using more than intended, trying but failing to quit, craving cannabis, and using it in high-risk situations such as while driving.
• New Jersey's regulator says cannabis “is not safe for all New Jerseyans,” and that the medical community strongly recommends anyone pregnant, planning to become pregnant or breastfeeding not use any cannabis products (CRC).
• For comparison, NIAAA counts about 178,000 U.S. deaths a year from excessive alcohol in 2020 and 2021 (NIAAA). Both facts are true at once; neither cancels the other.

Our own guide to cannabis side effects goes further into what to expect.

Dry January is a different thing: a one-month break from alcohol. Alcohol Change UK says the challenge “started in 2013 with 4,000 people,” with over 200,000 taking part in 2025 (Alcohol Change UK). NIAAA describes it as “a time when people take a break from drinking and examine their relationship with alcohol” (NIAAA).

In an NIAAA-supported survey of 1,659 young adults, 7% had done an alcohol-free challenge like Dry January in the past year. Half of those who did said they drank less afterward, and 15% stayed alcohol-free (NIAAA Spectrum).

Dry January says nothing about cannabis either way. If you are an adult planning the month, our Dry January guide covers the month itself; this page is about the phrase, the evidence and the law.