Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) is an increasingly common medical disorder seen among people who use cannabis heavily over long periods of time. The condition brings on recurring bouts of severe nausea, repeated vomiting, and intense abdominal discomfort.
A particularly distressing form of this reaction is often referred to as “scromiting,” a combination of the words screaming and vomiting.
Individuals experiencing this arrive at emergency departments in extreme pain, often unable to stop vomiting, and crying out from the severity of the cramps.
The constant vomiting paired with sharp stomach pain may leave patients unable to stay upright, speak properly, or remain calm due to the overwhelming discomfort.
CHS is turning out to be a national problem in the United States, as a study titled “Prevalence of cannabis use has significantly increased in patients with cyclic vomiting syndrome”, suggested that only one out of five people were hospitalised for cyclical vomiting in reported concurrent cannabis use from 2005 to 2014, when the majority of states had legalised only medical marijuana.
The numbers increased significantly since the legalisation of recreational marijuana in 2012, as over 800,000 cases of reported vomiting due to cannabis were in Colorado between 2013 and 2018, said Dr Sam Wang, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist and toxicologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, told CNN.
According to Wang, that’s approximately a 29% rise since legalisation.
Published in July 2025, the study found emergency room visits for adolescents aged 13 to 21 years across the nation increased more than 10-fold between 2016 and 2023.
Yet another November 2025 study found the rate of CHS among adults 18 to 35 rose sharply during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 and remained high.
Another study titled “Emergency department visits for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome among adolescents” published in July 2025, revealed that emergency room visits among adolescents aged 13 to 21 across the country surged more than ten times from 2016 to 2023.
A separate study titled “Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, 2016 to 2022” found that the incidence of CHS among adults aged 18 to 35 significantly increased during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 and has remained elevated since then.
