Cannabis is having a truly hideous effect on some unlucky stoners in the US, where it has recently been legalized in some states.
Doctors said users have been taken to hospital after suffering extreme bouts of ‘scromiting’ – which means they are screaming and vomiting at the same time.
This new word was invented by staff at emergency rooms across the US, who are seeing more and more people turn up yelling in pain and throwing up all over the place.
Its believed the scromiting is caused by a condition called Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) which affects people who have consumed weed for a long period of time.
The illness is not properly understood, but it’s known that the only guaranteed way to stop it is for sufferers to give up smoking cannabis altogether. Some people also get temporary relief by taking a hot bath.
Chalfonte LeNee Queen, a 47-year-old from San Diego, has experienced this grim condition.
She said the pain was sometimes so bad that she ended up on the floor, retching and wracked with pain.
‘I’ve screamed out for death,’ she told NPR.
‘I’ve cried out for my mom, who’s been dead for 20 years, mentally not realizing she can’t come to me.’
The illness strikes users who have been smoking regularly for a long time, with one study suggesting people would need to consume cannabis between three and fives time a day to develop CHS.
‘The syndrome was first described in 2004 by Allen and colleagues and is characterized by chronic cannabis use, cyclic episodes of nausea and vomiting, and the learned behaviour of hot bathing,’ doctors wrote.
It’s been suggested that CHS is caused by a build-up of cannabinoids in the body over a long period of time.
This may affect the function of cannabinoid receptors in a part of the brain called the hypothalamus which regulates the digestive system and body temperature.
The cannabis magazine High Times gave the following description of the illness: ‘Often mistakenly called Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome, Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome is a rare form of cannabinoid toxicity that develops in chronic smokers.
‘It’s characterized by cyclic episodes of debilitating nausea and vomiting. People who suffer from the syndrome often find that hot showers relieve their symptoms, and will compulsively bathe during episodes of nausea and vomiting. Symptoms stop after cessation of cannabis use.’ (Jasper Hamill)
