Donald Trump is set to sign a new executive order on cannabis after a new side effect was revealed.
The US’s approach to the legalities surrounding cannabis is patchy at best. Because the law on using the drug varies from state to state, this can mean that it is totally legal to buy and use the drug recreationally or prescribed medically in places like California, but not in Texas.
In some places, the weed can be prescribed for things like chronic pain relief, and other health conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
However, cannabis is illegal in the US on a federal level as a Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 - the same category are MDMA, heroin and LSD.
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It also has different regulations under the law for medical use and recreational use, and it could still be illegal to be found carrying a small amount if it’s not in an authorized place.
In light of all of this, Trump is expected to sign an executive order, which ABC reports could happen today (December 17).
The aim of this order is to allegedly reclassify marijuana to a Schedule III drug, which would relax the federal restrictions on the drug.
Per drugs.com, to be classed as a Schedule 1 drug, it needs to have ‘a high potential for abuse’, it has a ‘lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision’ and has no accepted medical treatment.
The DEA regulations say that drugs on the Schedule III list present a ‘moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence’ and less abuse potential.
On Monday (December 15), Trump said that he was considering signing the order as it could lead to ‘tremendous amounts of research’.
“Because a lot of people want to see it, the reclassification, because it leads to tremendous amounts of research that can't be done unless you reclassify. So we are looking at that very strongly," Trump said, per ABC.
However, this all comes after side-effects for regular and long-term users of cannabis were identified by scientists.
Known as cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), a woman came out to share her story about it, and how it has changed her life.
Sydni Collins, 23, told The New Post that she first tried weed at 16 and became a regular smoker.
But over the years she has suffered from CHS, which brought her waves of nausea, and vomiting.
“There were some days when it lasted until noon and I would not go to school because of how bad it was,” Sydni told the outlet.
“I would be puking all morning. I would let out yells or cries because nothing would come out. I was just dry heaving.”
The symptoms are pretty horrid, which includes 'scromiting', screaming and vomiting simultaneously.
The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases went on to recently list the condition on their website in response to the surge in CHS cases, but many healthcare professionals don’t understand the condition fully.
Emergency medicine specialist Dr Chris Buresh said: "Some people say they’ve used cannabis without a problem for decades. Or they smoke pot because they think it treats their nausea.
"It seems like there’s a threshold when people can become vulnerable to this condition, and that threshold is different for everyone. Even using in small amounts can make these people start throwing up."
At a press conference earlier this year, the POTUS initially announced his thoughts on reclassifying the drug.
“We’re looking at reclassification, and we’ll make a determination over the next - I would say, over the next few weeks, and that determination hopefully will be the right one."
"It’s a very complicated subject,” he added, stating: “I’ve heard great things having to do with medical and bad things having to do with just about everything else."
Topics: Health, Drugs, Donald Trump
Britt Jones