As cannabis use among youth rises in Canada — and THC potency reaches record highs — emergency departments are seeing a surge in cases of a once-rare condition: cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS).
Characterized by relentless vomiting, abdominal pain and temporary relief through compulsive hot showers or baths, CHS is increasingly affecting adolescents and young adults. Yet few people — including many clinicians — know it exists.
Canada ranks among the highest globally for youth cannabis use, with 43 per cent of 16-19-year-olds reporting use in the past year. Usage peaks among those 20–24 years, with nearly half (48 per cent) reporting past-year use.
This rise in regular, heavy use coincides with a 400 per cent increase in THC potency since the 1980s. Strains with THC levels above 25 per cent are now common. As cannabis becomes more potent and accessible, clinicians are seeing more cases of CHS, a condition virtually unheard of before 2004.
CHS unfolds in three phases:
Prodromal phase: Nausea and early morning discomfort begin. Users increase cannabis consumption, thinking it will relieve symptoms.
Hyperemetic phase: Intense vomiting, dehydration and abdominal pain follow. Hot showers or baths provide temporary relief — a hallmark of CHS.
Recovery phase: Symptoms resolve after stopping cannabis entirely.
Diagnosis is often delayed. One reason is because CHS mimics conditions like gastroenteritis or eating disorders, leading to costly CT scans, MRIs and gastric emptying tests. One telltale sign — compulsive hot bathing — is frequently overlooked, despite its strong diagnostic value.
Youth face unique risks. The brain continues to develop until about age 25, and THC exposure during this critical window can impair cognitive functions like memory, learning and emotional regulation. Heavy cannabis use is associated with heightened risks of anxiety, depression, psychosis and self-harm.
Edit, the link in the article goes to this study:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2796355
Results There were 12 866 ED visits for CHS from 8140 individuals during the study. Overall, the mean (SD) age was 27.4 (10.5) years, with 2834 individuals (34.8%) aged 19 to 24 years, 4163 (51.5%) females, and 1353 individuals (16.6%) with a mental health ED visit or hospitalization in the 2 years before their first CHS ED visit. Nearly 10% of visits (1135 visits [8.8%]) led to hospital admissions. Monthly rates of CHS ED visits increased 13-fold during the 7.5-year study period, from 0.26 visits per 100 000 population in January 2014 to 3.43 visits per 100 000 population in June 2021. Legalization was not associated with an immediate or gradual change in rates of ED visits for CHS; however, commercialization during the COVID-19 pandemic period was associated with an immediate increase in rates of CHS ED visits (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.49; 95% CI, 1.31-1.70). During commercialization, rates of CHS ED visits increased more in women (IRR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.16-1.92) and individuals older than the legal age of cannabis purchase (eg, age 19-24 years: IRR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.19-2.16) than men (IRR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.85-1.37) and individuals younger than the legal age of purchase (IRR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.42-1.45).
I wouldn’t say “combative”. Critical, maybe.
It is a syndrome they’re describing, with rather vague symptoms and a very large userbase.
I’m not one to deny the risks of anything, but since cannabis has been subjected to biased research and journalism for 100 years, it’s not really surprising some people are somewhat critical of something this vague.
Like what’s your suggestion on “regulation”? Because I think an appropriate age limit is fine, just like with alcohol. Actual proper legalisation would allow people to actually know how much theyre consuming. Now it’s just random strength weed for random amount of inhale. If you knew x mg per puff or edible, like you can do in some places, but not most of the world, then it becomes easier knowing how much you’re actually consuming. So yeah, better regulation. Which requires legalisation.
deleted by creator
It’s genuinely more or less just more “reefer madness”.
If you actually read my comment and the study carefully, you might notice that.
For example:
So, anyone who’s been labeled to have any sort of harm from cannabis, which a lot of people take to just be use of cannabis. I can show you a recording of a psychiatrist supposedly specialising in drugs and addiction, who told me “there is no safe amount of cannabis you can use”.
And then, when any of those roughly just users, report with vomiting to an ER even 6 months after someone has written down something about cannabis use, it get counted as “cannabis hyperemesis syndrome”.
So because legalisation has made doctors more aware they’re questioning youth more about cannabis use. And since it’s legal, the youths aren’t lying as much as they used to. But they still have the same amount of alcohol overdoses (ie getting so drunk you start vomiting) and if you then visit the ER even just for being too drunk or having a fever with vomiting, you’ll be counted as a “ER CHS patient”.
So you know. You really do need to go and read the things they claim, all the way down to the source. For one most of the things they source in those studies are studies which aren’t exclusively Canadian, making your “well the study is Canadian” argument a bit frail, since the study references other non-Canadian studies.
I’m not against regulation, and I think a boozecard model would be fantastic. For things that actually require it. We had the same in Finland, up until the 70’s, really.
It was from ‘44-’ 70 yeah.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratt_System
But see that was for booze, not beer. Since growing your own is also legal and east af, trying to control the amount of cannabis wouldn’t work in practice, and as someone who’s known daily users for years, I don’t think there is any inherent factor in cannabis which would cause this syndrome (“syndrome” = a collection of symptoms, not a disease in itself). It’s more bad reporting and bad understanding of the subject.
For one when you’re totally drunk, never smoked weed, you take a large hit of something strong, you can easily start to feel spinning such that you literally vomit like there’s no tomorrow. To the point people who haven’t seen it will genuinely consider taking them to the ER. And during something like that, it does help to be in a hot shower.
However as the drunkenness wears off, the person becomes even more nauseous, as they’re still plenty high without being used to it, and the hangover is creeping in.
But never have I ever seen anyone vomit from cannabis who hasn’t been drinking. I’m not saying they don’t exist or that this syndrome isn’t real. I’m just saying I don’t see a well-explained causal relationship. I just see a bunch of poor correlation, as always.
Anyways, yeah, register and limit. For actual drugs. That’s why booze was on the card but beer wasn’t. You can make that at home and it’s not strong enough to mess you up line vodka will do.
Just the same, cannabis should be legal and ecstasy and others legalised with the Bratt system. People don’t cook mdma at home if there’s some available to purchase legally.
Government is leaving out billions in drug money because there’s a huge market for illegal drugs just going completely unregulated and untaxed.
Agreed. Proper legislation. I hope the political conversation becomes more about how rather than this bad/good argument.