Episode: 153: What Fills the Hole?

Last week, we asked whether America is genuinely getting sober or simply swapping one addiction for another. This week, we examine what people are using to replace drugs and alcohol.

Nobody warns you that quitting leaves a hole — not a metaphorical one, a real five-o'clock-on-a-Tuesday hole where a thing used to go. Something is going to fill it. (Hehe). The only question is what, and whether you picked it or it picked you.

So today: emergency rooms are seeing twice as many gambling cases since sports betting went online, and the industry says that's just better screening. Twenty-five companies are suddenly racing to build a pill for drinking, in a field that's had three drugs for decades. Half the guys we know who quit drinking now have a tin of nicotinein their pocket. And the non-alcoholic drinks business has figured out that the one thing its product can't do — make you feel something — is the thing people actually want, so they're putting THC in it.

Four replacements. Some of them are fine. Some are the same deal wearing a different hat. We try to work out which is which.

LINKS:

Gambling ER visits for gambling disorders double after online sports betting — https://www.deseret.com/lifestyle/2026/09/16/sports-betting-gambling-addiction-disorder-emergency-room-visits-increase-study/ Prediction markets and the new gambling frontier — https://woub.org/2026/09/08/ohio-university-modern-science-gambling-addiction-prediction-markets/ Sports betting addiction statistics — https://gamblingharm.org/sports-betting-addiction-statistics/

The AUD drug pipeline 25+ companies, 25+ investigational therapies — https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/11/3360198/28124/en/alcohol-use-disorder-pipeline-insight-2026-examines-25-companies-and-25-emerging-therapies.html Shorter trials, more reliable results — https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acer.70368

Nicotine pouches Nicotine pouch use surges — https://www.cdcfoundation.org/blog/Nicotine-Pouch-Use-Surges-Among-Young-People The evidence that pouches help smokers quit is limited — https://www.theexamination.org/articles/nicotine-pouches-smoking-path-data

Sober September and what's in the glass Sober September, 2026 edition — https://sober.com/sober-september-offers-a-chance-to-reaffirm-your-sobriety/

Week in Weird Hard Mountain Dew's $1M Bigfoot Bounty — https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/16/3363360/0/en/hard-mountain-dew-puts-1m-bounty-on-bigfoot-this-fall.html Maine police: it was a guy in a costume — https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2026/09/02/bigfoot-sighting-was-just-a-man-in-a-costume/

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