HIGH SOCIETY

As more people commit to Dry January than ever before, Eleanor Mills looks at how cannabis gummies are changing social drinking habits and wellness culture in the UK today

- Eleanor Mills

Whether it’s a glass of wine after a long day, a night out at the pub, or the whole of twixmas itself, when drinking can start before lunch (with the cry of “Why not? ’Tis the season!”) – British culture is steeped in alcohol. But late last year, I started to notice something a little different.

It began with a friend who had been living in New York. When I offered her a drink at my birthday party in early December, she declined. “I’m California sober these days,” she said. I hadn’t heard the phrase before. She explained that she’d given up the booze but took the edge off 100 per cent sober reality with gummies and the occasional microdosing of psychedelics (legal in some US states).

So, as we enter Dry January, could this trend be making its way over here, too? New research from Alcohol Change UK finds that 17.5 million will be planning a month off alcohol in January 2026. This latest polling from the charity behind the renowned Dry January challenge, now in its 14th year, suggests that almost a third (32 per cent) of UK adults have planed to attempt a 31-day break from alcohol in the New Year.

But increasingly, an alcohol-free lifestyle isn’t just for January, and many are discovering new ways to give up drinking for the long term. One friend in his fifties, who gave up after 30 years of overdoing it, was also embracing alternative highs at a recent gathering. “I feel SO much better for giving up the booze,” he gushed. “But I do have the odd gummy, at or before social occasions, to give me a bit of a kick.” It’s not just fiftysomethings, either. Chatting to a group of Gen Zs who had dropped by, I offered them all a beer. “Oh, we don’t drink,” they explained. They too are “Cali sober” - or at least, a version of it.