A friend asked me to help raise awareness of a debilitating condition that’s resulting from prolonged Cannabis use; Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS). My friend’s son has been hospitalized and fighting for his life as the result of this, as yet, little known illness.
Cannabis has been used as an entheogen since the earliest times by shamans to contact the spiritual realm which was wisely sealed off from us after the fall (Gen 3:24). This has served to demonize any use of Cannabis for health purposes in our society. Yet, all the while, Christians continue to be perfectly OK with taking doctor-prescribed big-pharma pain killers, a plethora of anti-depressants, or any one of “mother’s little helpers” to get them through the day.
Now, God created the herb of the ground to use responsibly for the purpose of healing, and that would include Cannabis. And the irresponsible use of ANYTHING can quickly become idolatry / addiction. So, like with everything else we need to examine our heart and use self control. But we’re not talking about a God-created herb from the ground anymore.
Once prohibited to facilitate the profits of pharmaceutical companies, Cannabis is increasingly being legalized in many states. And as many warned, legalization has moved production into the hands of corporations, whose motivation is profit. So, while it continues to be promoted as a “natural alternative” the sad fact is that Cannabis is not natural anymore.
Yet while news of a seriously debilitating Cannabis-induced condition is being suppressed, alternate health advocates continue to sing the praises of Cannabis over pharmaceutical products.
I asked my friend if she would write a brief testimonial of what happened to her son:
“For about five years now, my son has been getting very sick randomly. He will violently throw up for days and days on end. He’d moved in with me after a break-up about seven months ago and I witnessed these episodes. Initially, I thought it was diverticulitis or something.
I knew he used cannabis products regularly. But since we have been told that it is “natural,” I honestly didn’t think anything of it. In fact, when the doctors told me what was going on with him, I was borderline furious. I thought to myself, “Oh great, here we go the Medical community, demonizing something that’s perfectly natural!”
A few weeks ago, he was having an episode, and I came home from work to find him delirious, hallucinating and having conversations with people who were not even in the room. I immediately called 911.
He’d been trying to keep himself hydrated, but with the wrong thing that did not have electrolytes and ended up dehydrating instead. That caused his sodium, potassium and other levels to drop down to a deadly low level. Because of his potassium being so low, he was very combative and had to be sedated. A tube was inserted down his throat and he was basically put into a medically induced coma and spent eight days in the ICU unit at Memorial Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina.
I was using cannabis gummies myself to help me sleep because I have severe insomnia, and because of a medical condition, I can’t take prescription sleep aids. After learning of my son’s condition, I started to connect some problems I’d been having with the condition, including severe constipation, weight loss and other things.
I personally didn’t have a problem taking the gummies at the time because I was just taking a gummy before bedtime. I wasn’t stealing from anyone. I wasn’t in a drunken rampage. I was simply taking a gummy and going to bed.
My son has been using Cannabis since he was a teenager because he suffers with severe anxiety and it seemed to “help” him. Again, I didn’t have a problem with it because we have been led to believe that it’s natural and the circles that we follow: The Truther community, the Holistic Health community, the Wellness community that hates Big Pharma… etc. etc..
He had another episode after being released from the hospital. The thing about this condition is that even after completely stopping cannabis use, the symptoms can last for six months or more.
I joined a group pertaining to the subject and it is absolutely terrifying! Especially since the so-called “Truther” movement has promoted it for so long over big Pharma. I am outraged and feel like this is something I should have known about…but didn’t.
I’m sure, now that it’s being mass produced, that farmers are spraying it with Round Up just like they spray our food with it…
I live very close to the Cherokee tribe in North Carolina. They have a huge growing operation there and they are also making things like wax, dabs, among other synthetic Cannabis products. People who have this condition can’t hold down a job, often lose their homes because of not being able to work. The vomiting from what I understand is so violent can shut the organs down…
I would never ever want to watch anybody else go through what I have saw my son go through. He has since stopped using cannabis products and he is also going for therapy which is a huge step for him! for the time being he hasn’t had any more vomiting episodes, thank you Jesus!”
Here are a few videos created by people fighting to bring attention to this condition.
@shanny_do Replying to @Mal a diagnosis with an “easy” fix 🤮 #cannabis #hyperemesis ♬ original sound – Dr. Shanny
@drbuttgastro #cannabinoidhyperemesissyndrome #cannabinoidhyperemesissyndromeawareness #guthealthtiktok #guthealth #medicaleducation ♬ original sound – Dr Mohsin Butt
@hippieronniern #stitch with @joe_piankamd_author so glad I came across this video! thank you Dr Pianka for the explanation! #cannabanoidhyperemesissyndrome #cyclicalvomitngsyndrome #nursetok #nursesoftiktok #errn #nausearelief #emergencyroom #emergencymedicine #gastroparesis #patientadvocate #harmreduction ♬ original sound – Nurse Ronnie
