What 5,000+ Real-World Drinkers Revealed About THC Beverages
On Thursday, June 4, 2026, two of the most credible independent voices in cannabis science — the Network of Applied Pharmacognosy (NAP) and the real-world data platform MoreBetter — sat down to walk the public through something the infused beverage category has been missing for years: data. Not marketing claims, not anecdotes, but Cohort 2 findings from MoreBetter's Real-World Infused Beverage Study, a project that now spans more than 5,000 participants and 20 brands across two cohorts and stands as the largest consumer dataset in the cannabis beverage category to date.
The webinar was free, open to the public, and made possible by a small group of sponsor brands — including 23rd State, alongside Woodstock and Vena. If you missed the live session, you can watch the full recording and read NAP's official recap here.
This post breaks down what was shared, why it matters for the way people are rethinking their relationship with alcohol, and how to interpret the numbers responsibly. A quick note before we dig in: the study is observational and built on voluntary, self-reported participant data, and everything below reflects what consumers told researchers about their own experiences. Individual results vary, none of this is medical advice, and infused beverages are intended for adults 21+ where permitted by law.
Who's behind the research: meet NAP and MoreBetter
A recap is only as trustworthy as the people doing the work, so it's worth understanding who hosted this session.
The Network of Applied Pharmacognosy (NAP) is a nonprofit research organization founded in 2023 by Dr. Riley Kirk, PhD and Dr. Miyabe Shields, PhD — two pharmaceutical scientists who famously met on TikTok and have since become two of the most-followed educators in cannabis science. Kirk's background is in natural products chemistry (she's behind the @cannabichem account and has taught cannabis chemistry and pharmacology at the university level), while Shields specializes in drug-discovery biochemistry and the way compounds interact with targets in the body. As Shields once put it, the two are "like the two halves of the major components of drug discovery."
NAP's entire mission is to bridge the gap between academic research, the cannabis and natural-products industry, and the millions of everyday consumers who are typically underrepresented in formal research. Their approach centers on real-world use and lived experience — the idea that people don't consume cannabinoids in a sterile lab, they consume them at dinner, after work, at a backyard barbecue, or in place of a glass of wine. NAP signs off its community emails with a phrase that captures the ethos nicely: "Stay medicated, educated, and regulated."
MoreBetter, founded in 2014, is a real-world evidence (RWE) platform that specializes in consumer research for functional and infused products. Led in part by COO Tyler Dautrich, MoreBetter designs large-scale, non-interventional studies that capture how products actually perform across thousands of people over multiple weeks. Importantly, NAP and MoreBetter act as the independent research organization facilitating the study's design, data collection, analysis, and communication — they do not sponsor the studies themselves. That separation between the researchers and the brands footing the bill is part of what gives the dataset its credibility.
What the Real-World Infused Beverage Study actually measures
Most of what the public hears about cannabis beverages comes from brand messaging or small clinical trials. This study is different, and understanding how it's different is the key to reading the results correctly.
The Real-World Infused Beverage Study is a voluntary, non-interventional, self-reported investigation. Participants are given a supply of an infused beverage and then report on their own experiences over a multi-week period — their beverage habits, when and where they drink, how the experience feels, and how it fits into their daily lives. Nobody is being dosed in a clinic. Instead, researchers are capturing behavior and perception in the messy, authentic context of real life, which is exactly where products either deliver or fall short.
Across two cohorts, the study now tracks more than 5,000 participants and 20 brands, with products spanning a range of cannabinoid formulations — THC alongside CBD, CBG, CBN and others — typically in the 1–10 mg THC-per-serving range that mirrors what's on shelves today. Cohort 2 specifically expanded the work with additional brands, more SKUs, and thousands of new participants to deepen the picture across different formats, doses, and demographics.
The trade-off with this design is worth naming: self-reported, real-world data is broad, authentic, and behaviorally rich, but it is not a placebo-controlled clinical trial. It tells us what people report experiencing and doing, not what a controlled medical study would prove about cause and effect. NAP and MoreBetter are transparent about this, and so are we.
The headline findings: a substitution story
The most discussed theme of the webinar — and the throughline of the entire study — is what researchers call the substitution effect: the pattern of people reaching for an infused beverage instead of an alcoholic one.
According to MoreBetter's findings, 71.7% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that they drank less alcohol while using infused beverages during the study. That's a striking majority, and it lands squarely in the middle of a broader cultural shift. "Sober curious," "California sober," "damp January," "zebra striping" — the language keeps changing, but the underlying behavior is consistent: a large and growing group of adults wants the ritual and social ease of a drink without the alcohol.
Just as notable was the perception of safety. 87.4% of participants said infused beverages felt safer, or much safer, than alcohol for their health. It's important to read that precisely: this is a self-reported perception of safety, not a clinical safety determination. What it tells us is how people feel about the choice they're making — and that perception is a powerful driver of behavior in any consumer category.
A category onboarding new drinkers
One of the more forward-looking data points: roughly 43% of participants reported that this was their first time consuming a THC- or CBD-infused beverage. For anyone tracking the trajectory of this category, that's a signal of rapid adoption. These aren't only longtime cannabis consumers swapping one format for another — a meaningful share are newcomers, many of them likely arriving from the alcohol aisle.
Beyond the drink itself
The study also captured self-reported reflections on mood, sleep, stress, and overall quality of life. We're intentionally light-handed here, because this is exactly the territory where responsible brands and researchers must avoid overstating. Participants reported a range of perceived day-to-day improvements, but these are subjective, self-reported observations within an observational study — not proof that any product treats, prevents, or improves any health condition. The honest, evidence-forward takeaway is simpler and arguably more interesting: when people swap alcohol for a low-dose infused beverage, many report feeling better about the trade. Why that is remains a question for continued research.
From "does it work" to "how does it perform"
For years, the knock on THC beverages was unpredictability — inconsistent onset, a duration you couldn't plan around, and an experience that varied wildly from product to product. One of the most valuable contributions of Cohort 2 is that it begins to move the conversation from does it work to how does it perform, and it does so with numbers.
Within the dataset, sponsor products that met the study's aggregate thresholds — including 23rd State's Fresh Press and SHAKE — showed a repeatable performance profile that's worth understanding as a consumer:
- Onset you can plan around: effects most commonly reported within a 20–40 minute window
- Duration you can trust: a stable, sessionable 2–3 hour experience
- Consistency at scale: outcomes that tighten and become more predictable with repeat use
- Design integrity: reported experiences that closely matched the intended formulation targets
Why does this matter for the alcohol-alternative conversation specifically? Because predictability is the whole game. If you're replacing a glass of wine at dinner, you need to know roughly when you'll feel something and how long it will last — the same way you intuitively understand a beer or a cocktail. A 20–40 minute onset and a 2–3 hour arc make an infused beverage usable as a genuine social-occasion drink rather than a guessing game.
For 23rd State products in particular, the study captured strong substitution intent: 58.3% of participants said they would consider Fresh Press, the brand's sparkling pear perry, a regular alternative to alcohol. All of the brand's products in the Cohort 2 lineup — Fresh Press, the SHAKE drink-enhancer drops, and Blush Crush Infused Bubbly — met the study's aggregate sponsor-product thresholds. (You can read more about how 23rd State approaches formulation and validation on its research validated beverages page.)
The framing here is deliberate: 23rd State is one of 20 brands in a much larger independent dataset, not the subject of the study. The point isn't that one brand "won" — it's that the category is finally generating the kind of performance evidence that lets any operator, retailer, or consumer separate products that deliver a consistent experience from those that don't.
What the scientists added: applied cannabinoid pharmacology
Data alone can be misread, which is why having Dr. Shields and Dr. Kirk in the room mattered. During the structured portion of the webinar, they framed MoreBetter's aggregate numbers within applied cannabinoid pharmacology — the science of dose, timing, and use-case that explains why the consumer data looks the way it does.
A few themes the NAP scientists tend to emphasize, and that contextualize these findings:
Beverages behave differently than other formats. The way a cannabinoid is delivered in a drink — and the dose it's delivered at — shapes onset and duration in ways that are distinct from, say, a gummy or a capsule. That's a big part of why a well-formulated beverage can offer the relatively predictable 20–40 minute onset reflected in the data.
Dose and context are everything. Low-dose, real-world use (the 1–10 mg range most products live in) is a fundamentally different conversation than high-dose consumption, and studying it in everyday settings reveals patterns around timing and occasion that lab studies miss.
Consumers deserve to be studied as they actually are. NAP's core argument is that the millions of people incorporating cannabinoids into their routines have been left out of formal research. Centering studies on real-world use is how you find the practical insights — on dose, timing, and use-case — that help people make informed, responsible decisions.
This is also where the broader "evidence gap" theme comes in. The infused beverage category has grown far faster than the research supporting it, and only a small fraction of manufacturers validate their products through real-world study at all. Independent datasets like this one are how the category earns trust — with regulators, with retailers, and with the public.
Why this matters for the category — and the policy backdrop
Zoom out, and the significance of this webinar goes beyond any single statistic.
For consumers, it's a step toward being able to choose an infused beverage with the same confidence they'd bring to picking a beer or a non-alcoholic spirit — knowing roughly how it will feel and how long it will last.
For retailers and operators, it's an evidence base. A category that can point to real-world performance data and documented substitution behavior is no longer speculative; it's a measurable consumer movement with a research record behind it.
And for the broader policy conversation, independent data is increasingly central. As lawmakers debate the future of hemp-derived products — including federal appropriations language that could dramatically reshape what's legal — research that documents how adults actually use these beverages, and the choices they're making relative to alcohol, becomes part of a serious, data-driven public conversation rather than a purely ideological one. NAP frames this as "science as advocacy," and it's a useful lens: the more we understand real-world behavior, the better-informed every downstream decision becomes.
Watch the full webinar and explore the community offers
The session ran about 45 minutes — roughly 30 minutes of structured presentation from MoreBetter and NAP, followed by 15 minutes of live audience Q&A. NAP has also said it will follow up with answers to the questions there wasn't time to cover, along with additional data insights, so it's worth staying connected to their community.
You can watch the complete webinar recording and read NAP's recap here.
Because the sponsors made the event free to the public, NAP also shared a set of community discount codes for the sponsor brands featured in the session. For 23rd State, you can use code NAP30 on Fresh Press and the rest of the lineup (for adults 21+, where legal). The full set of sponsor offers — including Woodstock and Vena — is listed in NAP's recap linked above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Real-World Infused Beverage Study? It's a large-scale, voluntary, non-interventional study run by the research organizations MoreBetter and the Network of Applied Pharmacognosy (NAP). Participants use an infused beverage over several weeks and self-report their habits and experiences. Across two cohorts it now includes more than 5,000 participants and 20 brands, making it the largest consumer dataset in the cannabis beverage category to date.
Who are NAP and MoreBetter? NAP (Network of Applied Pharmacognosy) is a nonprofit founded in 2023 by Dr. Riley Kirk and Dr. Miyabe Shields to bridge academic research, industry, and the consumer community. MoreBetter is a real-world evidence platform founded in 2014 that specializes in consumer research for functional and infused products. They serve as the independent researchers — not the study's sponsors.
Do cannabis beverages help people drink less alcohol? In this observational study, 71.7% of participants self-reported drinking less alcohol while using infused beverages, and 43% were trying an infused beverage for the first time. These are self-reported behaviors and perceptions, not clinical proof of cause and effect, and individual experiences vary.
How long do THC beverages take to kick in, and how long do they last? For the sponsor products that met the study's thresholds (including 23rd State's Fresh Press and SHAKE), effects were most commonly reported within a 20–40 minute window, with a sessionable 2–3 hour experience. Onset and duration can vary by product, dose, and individual.
Are infused beverages "safer" than alcohol? In the study, 87.4% of participants said infused beverages felt safer or much safer than alcohol for their health. That reflects consumer perception, not a clinical safety determination. As with any product containing THC, responsible, informed use matters.
Where can I watch the webinar? The full recording and NAP's recap are available here: https://view.flodesk.com/emails/6a206bd2eb1a871162f10bd1
The bottom line
The NAP × MoreBetter webinar marked a quiet but meaningful turning point. For the first time, a category long defined by promises has a growing, independent body of real-world evidence behind it — documenting a genuine substitution movement, a wave of first-time drinkers, and a level of product performance you can actually plan around. None of it replaces continued research, and none of it is medical advice. But it does move the conversation onto firmer ground, which is exactly where an emerging category needs to be.
If you want to go deeper, watch the full session and NAP's recap, and explore how 23rd State builds toward this kind of consistency on its research validated beverages page.
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- THC Beverages, Onset Time, Duration & No Hangover Data
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This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. The findings described are drawn from a voluntary, self-reported, observational study; participant statements reflect individual experiences and perceptions, and results vary. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, and infused beverages are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Infused beverages are intended for adults 21 and older where permitted by law. Please consume responsibly and do not drive or operate machinery after use.
