A new term, supposedly a portmanteau of screaming and vomiting. Both are prominent features of a rapidly escalating medical phenomenon, Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome.
We first discussed CHS in 2017, a couple of years after it began to appear in medical journals. A small number of cases had shown up in Colorado emergency rooms, and physicians were eventually able to connect the acute symptoms to a common thread: All the patients were regular cannabis users.
These users had begun to experience painful episodes of severe vomiting. Worse yet, episodes became increasingly severe over time, resulting in many trips to the emergency room, desperate for help.
You may recall that early on, most of the affected were able to self-treat CHS by taking hot showers or baths, with some success. Apparently that had stopped working. The vomiting episodes had become unbearable, requiring intensive treatment by ER staff with anti-nausea medication and IV fluids.
An explanation for the change is unclear. A change in the drug itself? or possibly, in the way it was being ingested? Perhaps newer and more potent forms of cannabis, such as wax or shatter, played a role?
It must come as a shock to a regular cannabis user to suddenly experience violent vomiting and severe pain. I’m not aware of a way to predict in advance which users will succumb to CHS, and which won’t.
There’s still a lot we don’t understand about cannabis use and its consequences, but the number of CHS victims appears to be growing fast. From the article: “…over 800,000 cases of reported vomiting due to cannabis in Colorado [were found] between 2013 and 2018.”
That’s in one state. There are 37 others where cannabis use is now legal.
It’s yet another example of how poorly prepared we were for the consequences that followed legalization. I suppose in our rush to commercialize pot, we simply didn’t take the time to think ahead.
