What is California Sober Anyway???
“Demi Lovato renounces ‘California sober,’ says they are now ‘sober sober’ (today.com)”
Demi Lovato, Macklemore, and cast members from Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules have been grappling to differentiate “sobriety” from “California sober”. I gratefully found recovery in 1997 and remained completely abstinence ever since. My sobriety has given me a fulfilling life that was unimaginable during my active alcoholism. So, this idea that you can use a DIFFERENT substance and still be sober is a dangerous ruse that immediately raised alarm bells.
The Urban Dictionary defines California Sober as abstaining from all drugs except alcohol and marijuana. VICE magazine referred to California sober as abstaining from all drugs except marijuana and psychedelic drugs. Bottom line, California Sober is nothing but a fancy sounding defense mechanism that allows a person to keep getting high. Instead of the standard minimizing, intellectualizing, and rationalizing self-destructive behavior, California Sober has been peddled by celebrity influencers to avoid personal accountability. If you have a substance use disorder it is only a matter of time before you give up one substance only to abuse another because the use cycle is still active, and addiction is a progressive illness that gets worse over time.
As a presiding DUI and Drug Court Judge I saw this trend daily in my participants. To earn a seat in my rigorous and accountability-based programs you needed to be on a third conviction, and/or have an extremely high blood alcohol level (BAC). Those with the highest BAC’s often had gone to treatment or were sober from another substance – cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine. And yet here they were, back in the judicial system with off the chart blood alcohol levels while operating a motor vehicle. They expressed they felt like as long as they didn’t use their original drug of choice and were “only” using alcohol they were doing well. I would remind them that getting totally intoxicated and making a decision that puts other people’s lives at risk is the opposite of progress. Furthermore, “drug of choice” is vernacular that only refers to the type of a high a person prefers at this moment, not the only substance they will misuse.
The DSM-V specifies the diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders. Alcoholics Anonymous describes alcoholism as an allergy that some people are more susceptible to than others. Despite your orientation, abstinence (ie sobriety) provides people the opportunity for a fully recovered life. One where they can address underlying core issues, interact with peer recovery groups, be present for their friends and family, and live a life of their dreams. Recovery turns the tortured cycle of self-loathing, shame, and false pride into viable assets of self-respect, self-esteem, and other centeredness, when abstinent and working a program. If you trade one substance for another then the gifts and miracle of sobriety will allude you. Using marijuana as a substitute for another drug, including alcohol, is a barrier to the gifts of sobriety.