This story was reported and written by our media partner the Virginia Mercury.
Once she became a mother, the unappealing prospect of parenting while hungover curbed Synthia Bialkowski’s social drinking. Though she still likes to imbibe in alcohol from time to time, she’s excited about exploring a new option: low-dose THC-infused beverages, like the mocktail line that just launched at Bingo Beer Co. in Richmond.
“I feel like this is something I can sit down with, it’s not a ton of calories or a ton of sugar, and I can still have the social aspect of a drink without the repercussions,” Bialkowski said.
That’s exactly what Bingo co-owner Jay Bayer had in mind when his company set out to create its line of THC-infused, alcohol-free cocktails called Level Up, produced in partnership with Virginia-based hemp grower Pure Shenandoah. The company released two flavors of the drinks — a ginger mule and a grapefruit paloma — ahead of Memorial Day weekend, adding to the brewery-restaurant-arcade’s lineup of booze-free products including non-alcoholic beer and kombucha.
“But that doesn’t feel like it always tickles the funny bone of somebody who’s trying to have an alternative (to alcohol),” he said. “If you are either just abstaining from alcohol for the day or abstaining from alcohol in general, but you still want to find something that is fun, that’s what these are.”
The science behind the sips
With 2 milligrams of THC — the chemical component in cannabis and hemp that can produce a euphoric feeling — paired with 5 milligrams of the non-psychoactive compounds CBD and CBG, the products are within Virginia’s legal requirements. Virginia law requires hemp-derived products to have 25 times as much CBD for every one part of THC. The company also posts the products’ lab results online.
While THC, found in both hemp and marijuana, is the compound that produces a high for consumers, CBD does not. But CBD has been touted for potential benefits like treating anxiety, inflammation and epilepsy. Both compounds have become appealing in recent years as supplemental treatments for a variety of health conditions or as alcohol alternatives.
The low dose in Level Up both complies with state law and allows consumers to build their experience, Bayer said.
It’s something Harvard Medical School professor and researcher Dr. Staci Gruber recommends, particularly for new or first-time THC users.
Unlike inhaling THC, which can alter one’s mind and body sooner, the effects of edibles or drinkables can take a few minutes to an hour for people to feel, and the duration of the experience varies by person.
“You also want to give yourself some time after you’ve had it to really see how you feel,” she explained. “For people who are novices, start low and go slow.”
Concerning cannabis, Virginia is a mixed bag
While Bingo’s THC drink is new on the market in Virginia, THC-infused products from seltzers to gummies to tinctures have emerged more prominently in alcohol alternative markets in recent years. Many are marketed online, and though federally legal, some aren’t able to be shipped to every state due to differing state laws surrounding THC. Hemp and marijana are both derived from the cannabis sativa plant, but have different chemical compositions and legal statuses.
After legalizing marijuana possession in 2021, Virginia has yet to create a legal retail market for it. Efforts in the state legislature have stalled during Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration, whose term ends later this year.
Virginia does have a medical marijana market though, for which patients need approval from their physicians to access a limited number of dispensaries around the state. Despite Virginia’s hazy laws surrounding the cannabis plants, Gruber isn’t surprised a market is growing for cannabis or hemp-derived products locally and nationwide.
Alcohol use — and heavy drinking, in particular — is linked to cancers, heart and liver disease or high blood pressure, and can exacerbate certain mental health conditions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“People really enjoy having options, right?” Gruber said. “With people being more mindful of the negative effects of alcohol, they’re trying to explore other ways of feeling a little bit more relaxed, or the ability to ‘kick back,’ but not necessarily use alcohol to do it.”
Kicking back sans the hard stuff intrigued Russell and Lyn Gibbs, retirees who moved to Richmond from Washington D.C. occasionally seeking a healthier alternative to alcohol when socializing.
“People tend to drink too much,” Russell said. “I’ve been in situations when I’ve had a club soda and a lime to feel like I’m drinking when I’m not.”
While Lyn still appreciates alcohol for its stress-relief properties, she said she has enjoyed alternative markets opening up for THC. The couple has tried THC-infused gummies in the past, they said at a tasting event for the new drinks at Bingo Beer Co. on Friday.
Hazy national outlook
A psychiatry professor at Harvard, Gruber also leads the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND) Program at McLean Hospital. Her research has explored the impact of recreational cannabis use on the brain using brain imaging, clinical assessments and neurocognitive measures.
While hemp is federally legal, marijana is still not. Some states have legalized it, but the patchwork of laws around the nation can be confusing for consumers. Though people have been illegally growing and purchasing marijuana or hemp products for a long time, as legal markets emerge Gruber noted that “policy has outpaced science.”
Research is important, she said to help people “navigate this constantly shifting landscape with the good, the bad and the truth.”
Gruber has provided testimony to members of Congress to help lawmakers better understand the chemical compounds in the plants plus their studied benefits and risks, as well as consumer behaviors surrounding them.
What’s clear, she said, is that if people weren’t interested in using THC products, “you wouldn’t see a proliferation of them in the marketplace.”
