Callum Jones
Regular cannabis users have shared their experiences with a new side effect that has led to some smokers having to visit hospital.
Some 17 percent of Americans said they had smoked a joint as of 2023, with the drug now being legal in 24 states, including the likes of Ohio and Minnesota, which more recently made it legal for recreational use.
And while health benefits of taking cannabis have been detailed, scientists have been looking into the impact chronic cannabis users are facing.
Chronic cannabis use refers to regular use over months or years, and is often defined as daily or near-daily use, according to health experts.
Advert
In recent times, emergency services have treated patients with abdominal pain and severe or prolonged vomiting, with experts finding the common trait amongst them being they are chronic cannabis users.
The condition is known as cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), a disorder that triggers unpleasant symptoms such as nausea and abdominal pain.
It's informally known as 'scromiting' - screaming and vomiting at the same time. Lovely.
UW Medicine explains how the gut condition usually occurs within 24 hours of the most recent use and can last for days.
While symptoms can last a period of 48 hours, some suffers have reported puking up to 30 times a day.
Experts are still unaware of what causes CHS, but one of the main theories 'is that it may happen due to long-term overstimulation of receptors in your endocannabinoid system (ECS)', according to Cleveland Clinic.
Those who have experienced the syndrome have taken to social media to document their experience, and it's fair to say the vast majority became rather unwell.
"This s**** wild, it’s some of the worst physical pain I’ve ever experienced in my life, and I birthed him, a 9-pound baby,” said one TikTok user.
Another added: "I almost died from it, I couldn’t eat or drink for a week. I was throwing up 24/7. I threw up at first, and I continued to smoke, threw up again, continued to smoke."
And another TikToker revealed she's been sober for six months after becoming extremely unwell.
"Smoking nearly killed me," she said. "The only thing to stop the reoccurring sickness is you have to stop smoking."
The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases has since listed CHS as a condition on its website, which should allow experts to carefully monitor cases and see how regular cannabis use can impact the human body.
Beatriz Carlini, a research associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, said: "It helps us count and monitor these cases. In studying addiction and other public health concerns, we have three sources of data: what clinicians tell us, what people in the communities tell us, and what health records tell us.
"A new code for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome will supply important hard evidence on cannabis-adverse events, which physicians tell us is a growing problem."