Is scromiting from smoking weed a thing?
No, there is no such thing as a scream vomit outbreak among American stoners.
The anti-weed folks are at it again. Over the weekend, a British tabloid claimed that America was experiencing an epidemic of people smoking weed and scromiting — an absolutely vivid made-up word that combines screaming and vomiting.
For the record, no, stoners don’t hit a joint and scromit in the middle of the street; nor will someone in your smoking circle spontaneously scromit after a hit, forcing everyone else to duck for cover before the weed kicks in. Or even worse, start a chain reaction of scromiting throughout the circle.
Aside from the sensationalism, the article alludes to something called Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome, a medical condition that is so poorly understood that not everyone can agree that it even exists.
This latest scare in the British tabloid is just another entry in a long list of anti-weed propaganda designed to vilify the plant and keep it banned. Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome, or scromiting if it exists, has only been diagnosed in a small number of people, and there’s certainly no influx of stoners contracting it and flooding hospitals.
Scromiting, explained?
Last Saturday, Britain’s Daily Mail ran an article entitled “How California’s Legal Cannabis Dream Became A Public Health Nightmare,” and our eyes quickly rolled back with a loud bang in our heads.
The article is melodramatic at best, focusing on the legal cannabis industry in LA and California and painting it in a negative light, making wild medical claims about how bad weed is and how it’s ruining society.
Perhaps most worryingly, the article frequently cites “studies” to support its claims, but we could not find a single link to a study or the name of a single study throughout the article. Call us skeptical.
Oh, and there’s also a doubling of something weird called “scromiting”. This is screaming and vomiting that lasts for weeks without treatment. A result of long-term use of highly potent cannabis.
— Eve Simmons (@EveSimmns) July 2, 2022
The topic of scromiting comes up in an interview with Dr. Roneet Lev, an emergency room physician at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, said, “‘It’s screaming and violent vomiting,’ says Dr. Lev. ‘I call it the audible cannabis condition because I hear the violent screams in the hallway before I see the patient.’” Lev continued, saying she sees at least one scromiting patient per shift.
The article goes on to say that “since it was first identified in 2004, three young men have died from complications of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome.”
We would like to remind our readers that no one has ever died from cannabis use and we find it hard to believe that there are so many patients with this condition in just one hospital. Also, one would think that a condition where people scream and throw up at the same time would have gained a little more recognition by now. Just imagine the memes.
dr Peter Grinspoon, a primary care physician and teacher at Harvard Medical, as well as a cannabis advocate and educator, perhaps best explains the article’s Reefer Madness-esque propaganda:
Are #British citizens being educated on #cannabis and #MMJ issues to recognize #reefermadness?
.@EveSimmns hasn’t spoken to a single doctor who has treated people and bought nonsense (which some have the kernel of truth to), hook line and sinkers
(unless that was the agenda of the article) https://t.co/MbMM1XzTlP
— Peter Grinspoon, MD (@Peter_Grinspoon) July 3, 2022
What is Scromiting or Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome?
Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) is a condition associated with heavy cannabis use over a long period of time. Symptoms include:
- nausea in the morning
- abdominal pain and discomfort
- nausea
- Vomiting, sometimes for hours
- Constant washing or showering
Perhaps the strangest symptom – persistent washing or showering – seems to develop as the condition progresses, and the reason why this symptom manifests is not fully understood. It may relieve nausea, or as a 2011 study suggests, “hot bathing may work by correcting the cannabis-induced imbalance of the thermoregulatory system of the hypothalamus,” meaning frequent hot showers somehow balance the body’s systems.
These symptoms can last for days, months, or even years, and are likely to disappear when cannabis use stops.
Is scromiting real?
Whether the condition is genuine or not is a matter of debate. CHS has only been recognized in recent years, so research on it is sparse and little is known about it. As a result, it’s often mistaken and misdiagnosed as Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome, another little-known condition with unclear causes that doesn’t appear to be related to weed in any way.
CHS first emerged in an Australian study in 2004, when researchers found that ten people with cyclic vomiting symptoms were all chronic cannabis users. Seven of the subjects abstained from weed and resolved their vomiting symptoms, while the other three refused to abstain and their symptoms persisted.
Others claim CHS is the result of consuming neem oil, an organic pesticide often sprayed on cannabis, but neem oil poisoning appears to be different from CHS.
Adding to the confusion of scromiting is the fact that cannabis is commonly prescribed medicinally to treat nausea, often for patients undergoing chemotherapy and other patients.
The 2011 study cited above suggests that cannabis may have unknown effects on the gut of some individuals. It suggests that other cannabinoids in the plant, CBD and CBG, may play a role in the condition: CBD is biphasic, meaning it can have different effects at low and high doses, and that when taken in high doses the combination of CBD and CBG can contribute to nausea and vomiting.
To be clear, these ideas are all speculation and not scientific fact. Although more studies have been conducted on this condition in recent years, the causes of Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome are still unknown.
At the end of the day, some individuals experience severe vomiting and other symptoms associated with CHS, and some experience relief from these symptoms after quitting weed. If you’re having severe episodes of vomiting, you should definitely talk to your doctor or go to the emergency room, and if stopping cannabis use helps relieve symptoms, you should definitely consider it.
But there is no epidemic of weed disease. Those who claim that scromiting is a new plague infecting society tend to engage in Reefer Madness-style hysteria designed to scare people off cannabis and keep it banned.
Pat Goggins
Pat Goggins is a senior content editor at Leafly, specializing in cannabis cultivation after working for a commercial grower in Oregon. When you’re not correcting typos, chances are you’ll find him on a boat or in the mountains.
Check out Pat Goggins’ articles
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