{"id":4231,"date":"2021-09-15T04:20:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T11:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=4231"},"modified":"2021-09-17T07:14:06","modified_gmt":"2021-09-17T14:14:06","slug":"what-is-california-sober","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/","title":{"rendered":"What is California Sober?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The term \u201cCalifornia sober\u201d has become popular in 2021, thanks in part to a song by Demi Lovato. While definitions for the term are varied, the most common use of California sober describes the idea of giving up alcohol and all types of drugs except cannabis.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s easy to do in California, where weed is legal for medical and adult use. Lovato, who also came out as non-binary this year, made the term popular through the song with the same name. However, their definition of California sober is different than the original. In interviews, they seem to indicate that, for them, it means using everything in moderation.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no doubt they enjoy cannabis. They recently posted<\/a> a video of themselves on Instagram smoking a joint in a car for their 114 million followers. Lovato had a near-overdose in July 2018 from opioids. They also came out as non-binary in May of this year.<\/p>\n

Lovato Interview and Song Made the Term Famous<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Lovato talked about California sober during an interview on CBS Sunday Morning earlier in 2021. To understand their comments, it\u2019s important to know that Lovato had a near-overdose in July 2018 from opioids.<\/p>\n

In the interview in Los Angeles, the pop star said, \u201cI think the term that I best identify with is California sober. I really don\u2019t feel comfortable explaining the parameters of my recovery to people, because I don\u2019t want anyone to look at my parameters of safety and think that\u2019s what works for them, because it might not.\u201d<\/p>\n

They went on to say that \u201cI am cautious to say that, just like I feel the complete abstinent method isn\u2019t a one-size-fits-all solution for everybody, I don\u2019t think that this journey of moderation is a one-size-fits-all solution for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cCalifornia Sober\u201d song<\/a> is on the \u201cDancing with the Devil\u2026the Art of Starting Over\u201d studio album released by Lovato in April 2021.<\/p>\n

The Term Originated With a Former New York Writer<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The popularity of the California sober is traced back to writer Michelle Lhooq, who wrote an article for Vice<\/a> in 2019 about giving up all drugs – which she had used liberally – and using only cannabis and the occasional psychedelic. She moved to California, where cannabis – and maybe, soon, some psychedelics – are legal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved to California to save myself, although I did not realize this until much later,\u201d the article begins. Lhooq had worked for years as a music journalist at Vice magazine. Once she got laid off, she moved to California and decided to change her life.<\/p>\n

In the article, she said heard the term from people in Los Angeles. After describing her intention to give up all drugs except cannabis and psychedelics, she wrote: \u201cI call this \u201cCali sober,\u201d a term some people also use when they quit everything but weed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a way, Lovato\u2019s use of the term – and even Lhooq\u2019s – has obscured the original meaning. They both became \u201cCalifornia sober\u201d because they wanted to curtail drug use. But for many people, the term still retains its original meaning: California sober means you give up everything – including alcohol – and only use marijuana, just because you enjoy it and feel healthier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Made popular by Demi Lovato, the term \u201cCalifornia Sober\u201d has its roots in a writer\u2019s idea to stop using drugs and alcohol except for cannabis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[1164,1165,1166],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is California Sober? | Michelle Lhooq | Demi Lovato | Cali Sober<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Made popular by Demi Lovato, the term \u201cCalifornia Sober\u201d has its roots in a writer\u2019s idea to stop using drugs and alcohol except for cannabis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is California Sober? | Michelle Lhooq | Demi Lovato | Cali Sober\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Made popular by Demi Lovato, the term \u201cCalifornia Sober\u201d has its roots in a writer\u2019s idea to stop using drugs and alcohol except for cannabis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dispensaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-15T11:20:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-17T14:14:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/what-is-california-sober.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dispensariescom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dispensaries Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/\",\"name\":\"What is California Sober? | Michelle Lhooq | Demi Lovato | Cali Sober\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-15T11:20:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-17T14:14:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\"},\"description\":\"Made popular by Demi Lovato, the term \u201cCalifornia Sober\u201d has its roots in a writer\u2019s idea to stop using drugs and alcohol except for cannabis\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is California Sober?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0\",\"name\":\"Dispensaries Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dispensaries Editor\"},\"description\":\"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is California Sober? | Michelle Lhooq | Demi Lovato | Cali Sober","description":"Made popular by Demi Lovato, the term \u201cCalifornia Sober\u201d has its roots in a writer\u2019s idea to stop using drugs and alcohol except for cannabis","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is California Sober? | Michelle Lhooq | Demi Lovato | Cali Sober","og_description":"Made popular by Demi Lovato, the term \u201cCalifornia Sober\u201d has its roots in a writer\u2019s idea to stop using drugs and alcohol except for cannabis","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/","og_site_name":"Dispensaries","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","article_published_time":"2021-09-15T11:20:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-17T14:14:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/what-is-california-sober.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Dispensaries Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dispensariescom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dispensaries Editor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/","name":"What is California Sober? | Michelle Lhooq | Demi Lovato | Cali Sober","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-09-15T11:20:53+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-17T14:14:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0"},"description":"Made popular by Demi Lovato, the term \u201cCalifornia Sober\u201d has its roots in a writer\u2019s idea to stop using drugs and alcohol except for cannabis","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/what-is-california-sober\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is California Sober?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/","name":"Dispensaries","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b2935feeb3a368f3c87819d4c4d4cad0","name":"Dispensaries Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d30250f23451474024d7b90b1b0b748?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dispensaries Editor"},"description":"The editorial staff at Dispensaries.com are industry insiders, focused on bringing you authoritative and in depth coverage of the legal marijuana industry. We cover everything to the business trends, latest products and even help the cannicurious people better understand cannabis and the industry around it.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dispensariescom\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/dispensariescom"],"url":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/author\/dispensaries-editor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4231"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4231"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4235,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4231\/revisions\/4235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}