USA – Uncontrollable vomiting due to marijuana use on the rise, especially in the US states that have legalised recreational cannabis. A 2020 study found nearly one in five people hospitalised for cyclical vomiting in the US reported concurrent cannabis use. The illness is even more likely for those consuming high-potency weed, which is the norm in 2021. This is yet another study which suggests New Zealand dodged a bullet when voting NO to dope at last year’s Cannabis Referendum.
Currently there are 17 US states and the District of Columbia that have legalised recreational marijuana, while medicinal cannabis is legal in most states. A 2020 study found an unusual illness is on the rise in these states, where habitual users of cannabis, including teenagers, are showing up in emergency rooms complaining of severe intestinal distress and uncontrollable vomiting.
“They are writhing, holding their stomach, complaining of really bad abdominal pain and nausea,” said Dr. Sam Wang, a paediatric emergency medicine specialist and toxicologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, who treats adolescents with the condition.
Understandably there are growing concerns from medical experts about the severe effects of Marijuana on the health of youth.
“In adolescents and young adults, that’s where there’s growing concern about habitual use and its effect on physical and mental health,” says Dr Wang.
Wang points to the ever increasing potency of THC in today’s marijuana products.
“It’s been well documented that the amount of THC that now comes in cannabis is increasing substantially,” Wang said. “In the ’90s the average was like 4% or 5%. Now in Colorado, it’s anywhere from 15% to 20%.”
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