Legal cannabis was linked to emergency visits in a new study and people report problems with nausea

As more and more states legalize marijuana, the public is increasingly interested in the long-term safety of regular cannabis use. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, weed is the most commonly used illegal drug in the United States and its story often makes it a relatively safe use. Scientific research on the potential risks and benefits of marijuana is growing, and a new study has looked at some notable risks to the health of chronic users. A new study found that a Colorado hospital had seen its cannabis-related emergency visits tripled after the legalization of the recreational pot. In addition, many visits badociated with cannabis were also linked to the Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS), a rare and poorly understood condition that can occur in everyday marijuana users and which often involves repetitive and severe vomiting, nausea persistent and abdominal pain.

The study, published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, badessed the relationship between hospital emergency department visits and patients' corresponding history of edible and inhaled cannabis. The researchers examined the medical records of adult visitors going to the emergency room of a large Colorado hospital from 2012 to 2016. Colorado notably legalized recreational marijuana use in 2014, becoming one of the first states to do it. Factors such as patient demographics, symptoms, cannabis dosage, diagnosis and whether the doctor directly attributed the visit to the hospital to cannabis were taken into account.

A total of 9,973 emergency visits were linked to cannabis, with physicians attributing approximately 26% of their visits to cannabis use. The proportion of emergency visits including edible exposure was about 33 times higher than expected, the authors of the study badociating increased availability and use of weeds in the post-legalization state to leap from hospital visits related to cannabis. Emergency visits attributed to food consumption were more likely to be related to intoxication, acute psychiatric symptoms or cardiovascular symptoms.

More hospital visits were attributed to inhaled cannabis relative to food, and these visits were more likely to be for CHS. Previous studies have found a slight rise in the number of CHS incidents resulting from a large and chronic use of marijuana, and indicated that hot showers were a temporary treatment, with some patients taking more than 14 showers a day to get relief. A study based in New York in 2018 estimated that about 2.75 million Americans a year could experience something like CHS.

"It was striking that this was one of the main reasons for people coming to the ER," said Andrew Monte, co-author of the study and badociate professor of emergency medicine at the Faculty of Medicine. from the University of Colorado. Internal business. "We need to better inform users that this phenomenon exists."

It should be noted that, despite these statistics, the study relies on statements of cannabis use by some people, which means you can not badume that you are consuming it. caused this illness. But the results remain significant for a better understanding of how cannabis can affect users. In an editorial published in parallel to the study, Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute for Combating Drug Abuse, wrote: "We must recognize that all of the potential adverse consequences of cannabis use on health is not fully understood.

Although additional research on CHS is needed, it should be taken as an example of the fact that high marijuana use could have serious health effects.