Cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), that paradoxical condition where cannabis triggers nausea instead of relieving it, is back at the center of public health debate. This time, it’s for two major reasons: a massive new study published in JAMA Network Open and the recent decision by the World Health Organization to assign CHS its own diagnostic code.
Together, these developments paint a clearer (if more complex) picture of why this gastrointestinal syndrome is showing up more often in emergency departments, especially among younger adults and heavy users of high-potency cannabis products.
CHS by the numbers: Who ends up in ER and why
The study, conducted by the University of Illinois, analyzed more than 188 million emergency room visits between 2016 and 2022 and found a consistent trend: cases compatible with CHS surged during the pandemic and never returned to pre-COVID levels.
According to the analysis, CHS cases rose from 4.4 per 100,000 visits to a peak of 33.1 in the second quarter of 2020, then stabilized around 22.3 by the end of 2022. In other words, ER visits compatible with CHS became roughly seven times more common over the study period.
Also read: Is Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome Real? If So, Should It Be on Warning Labels?
Researchers attribute part of the rise to the effects of the pandemic. As the authors explained: “The COVID-19 pandemic likely catalyzed the rise in CHS through stress, isolation, and increased cannabis use. After peaking in 2021, CHS incidence declined but plateaued above prepandemic levels”, according to Hemp Gazette.
Key data points from the study:
Highest concentration among adults 18–25 years old (35.7%) and 26–35 (31.5%)
Simultaneous decline in non-cannabis cyclic vomiting diagnoses
Parallel rise in cannabis-related diagnostic codes
More prevalent in the Northeast and West of the U.S. than in the South
The authors also highlight a major limitation: because CHS did not yet have its own …
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Author: Camila Berriex / High Times
