Hangover cure

Occasionally, my enthusiasm for the Drink column leads to, let’s say, “an extended investigatory effort” into Reno’s alcohol offerings. As it goes, I recently found myself in the throes of a hangover—call it an occupational hazard—severe enough for me to research effective cures.

My usual remedies include the familiar Advil, some form of bread, long periods of immobility, and chugging water. Since my days as an undergrad, though, I’ve yet to find a more immediate relief from the headache, nausea and general angst of a hangover than marijuana—and I’m not alone. Anthony Bourdain stated in 2016 that his go-to hangover cure was a similar routine: “Aspirin, cold Coca-Cola, smoke a joint, eat some spicy Sichuan food—works every time,” he told TMZ.

Regardless, since Nevada legalized recreational marijuana sales last July, I thought I’d have my preferred next-morning treatment validated by the professionals at Silver State Relief cannabis dispensary.

Advocates for marijuana’s curative properties have been equating cannabis with a range of medications for decades, and researchers are beginning to build a better understanding of how it interacts with the body. It turns out, there’s a lot going on.

“If you can treat yourself after a hangover with an edible, that would probably be the most effective route, but smoking would be the quickest,” said budtender Kyle Bayfield. “If you eat an edible, that will go through your liver, and that’ll disperse throughout your body a little bit more intensely.”

An evolving understanding of the hundreds of compounds in marijuana combined with new methods of ingestion and a dizzying variety of strains means that there are virtually infinite combinations of effects cannabis could present. For my purposes, though, Bayfield said there were a few things to look out for.

“The terpenes, 100 percent, play the most dominant role in treating everything,” Bayfield said, referring to a family of compounds believed to be responsible for cannabis’ smell, taste and various effects. “Myrcene and limonene have an effect where they decrease the resistance in the brain’s blood barrier, meaning that all the other cannabinoids and terpenes can be absorbed way quicker.”

Bayfield said aside from being a mood stabilizer, limonene allows for greater absorption of marijuana’s main active compound, THC, which provides the immediate pain relief and anti-nausea benefits—as well as the psychoactive high. Different strains can be bought as dried flower (a.k.a. weed-classic), as extracted oils for vape pens or dab rigs, or as premade foodstuffs or additives.  

While many cannabis enthusiasts might consider the THC euphoria to be an added bonus for its pain-relieving qualities—guilty—the real value of cannabis as treatment for people with far more debilitating illnesses than my hangover lies in a different chemical: CBD.

“You can call it the cousin of THC,” Bayfield said. “It’s the non-psychoactive cannabinoid in cannabis.”

Aside from providing a treatment for anxiety—another documented symptom of hangovers—CBD is responsible for cannabis’ longer-lasting analgesic effects. This means that repentant drinkers should look for fairly even CBD to THC ratio.