An illness tied to marijuana use is on the rise in states where weed has been legalized.
Lance Crowder finally got an answer for his two years of abdominal pains and vomiting in an Indianapolis emergency room: cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, or CHS, CBS News reported.
CHS is caused by using different forms of marijuana (or cannabis) either too much or too long. Hot baths or showers can help relieve symptoms, although doctors aren't sure why that is.
“The first question he asked was if I was taking hot showers to find relief,” Crowder told CBS News. “When he asked me that question, I basically fell into tears because I knew he had an answer.”
“They’ll often present to the emergency department three, four, five different times before we can sort this out,” said Dr. Kennon Heard, an emergency room physician at the University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora, Colorado, told CBS.
Legal marijuana use is rising in the U.S. and the world for both medical and recreational purposes. In the United States, 26 states have laws legalizing pot for medical use, with eight of them plus the District of Columbia legalizing it for recreational use, as well.
CBS reported the illness is rarely diagnosed in states where marijuana isn't legal, which can be attributed to doctors not knowing about or not assuming CHS in addition to patients not wanting to disclose they've been using an illegal substance.
The illness usually clears up within a few days of stopping marijuana use, CBS said.
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