In a new interview with Rolling Stone, singer John Mayer is talking about his relationship with marijuana. He recently said that he’s “entering cannabis life,” which he says means that he’s replaced alcohol with weed, and that it’s had a positive effect on his life.
Mayer made headlines last year when he, along with members of the Grateful Dead, went on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and promoted marijuana legalization.
“I put [weed] where drinking used to go, and the quality of life has gone up considerably. Drinking is a f*****g con,” Mayer said in the interview. He went on to explain that he was always trying to figure out how to find the perfect balance of how intoxicated he wanted to get, and failing.
He said, “How much is enough? Every time I drank, I was looking for some sort of regulated amount… I always feel like I went overboard.” Mayer is quick to clarify that he didn’t have a drinking problem, but that drinking “always feels wrong” for him.
And, despite the fact that he says he doesn’t like “altered states,” he says he’s become “much more open-minded to small changes in consciousness.” Mayer’s experience reflects a larger trend in cannabis consumption.
In new findings released by Eaze, a cannabis technology company that connects users with medical marijuana delivery, they found that 4 out of 5 people surveyed (87%) have reduced their drinking because of their cannabis use, with as many as 1 in 10 (13%) replacing alcohol with cannabis entirely. They also found that the vast majority of consumers (80%) primarily consume cannabis at night, consistent with the time when many reach for a glass of wine or beer.
Not only that, but people are using cannabis as harm reduction, using it as a replacement for prescription opioids for chronic pain treatment. A new survey conducted by medical cannabis community website HelloMD, in cooperation with the University of California Berkeley, 97% of respondents said they could decrease their use of opioid painkillers when using cannabis. Ninety-two percent said that they prefer cannabis to treat their medical condition, which backs up existing research.
“A huge part of it is because they don’t want to have the hazy feeling they have on opioids, and cannabis allows them to be present and high-functioning,” Sheena Shiravi, Head of Public Relations for Eaze, told The Fix. “People are realizing benefits [of cannabis] and turning to it to replace potentially more harmful habits.”