Rare and mysterious vomiting illness linked to heavy marijuana use
Last Updated: Wednesday July 28, 2021
(NPR, November 30) In states that have relaxed their marijuana laws in recent years, some emergency room doctors are seeing rise in an illness related to the drug.
Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is pretty rare and mainly affects marijuana users who smoke several times a day for month or years. Sufferers experience episodes of nausea and vomiting. The only cure is to quit using the drug, doctors say.
"Five years ago, this wasn't something that [doctors] had on their radar," Dr. Kennon Heard, an emergency physician at the University of Colorado, told NPR. "We're at least making the diagnosis more now." Read more
Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome is pretty rare and mainly affects marijuana users who smoke several times a day for month or years. Sufferers experience episodes of nausea and vomiting. The only cure is to quit using the drug, doctors say.
"Five years ago, this wasn't something that [doctors] had on their radar," Dr. Kennon Heard, an emergency physician at the University of Colorado, told NPR. "We're at least making the diagnosis more now." Read more