The World Health Organization’s recognition of
Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) should serve as a serious warning for Illinois families. Emergency room visits tied to this marijuana-linked vomiting disorder have surged
650% since 2016, with the sharpest increase among
young adults ages 18 to 35. This is not a minor health scare—it is a full-blown crisis fueled by today’s high-potency cannabis products, often exceeding 20% THC compared to the 5% levels of the 1990s. As legalization spreads, Kane County taxpayers will inevitably bear the burden of rising ER costs and long-term health complications.
For years, marijuana advocates have painted cannabis as harmless, even medicinal. But CHS exposes the dangerous reality: repeated violent vomiting, dehydration, weight loss, and in severe cases, seizures and kidney failure. Patients describe “scromiting”—screaming and vomiting simultaneously from unbearable pain. Until now, doctors struggled to diagnose CHS because its symptoms mimic food poisoning or the flu. By giving CHS its own diagnostic code, the WHO has validated what many physicians have warned about for years: marijuana is not risk-free, and today’s high-potency products are creating new health emergencies.
Kane County parents should be especially concerned. Adolescents and college-aged adults are being exposed to cannabis products far stronger than anything previous generations encountered. Addiction specialists report “alarming” increases in CHS among young people. This is not the benign plant of the past—it is a chemically supercharged substance that can devastate health and derail futures. The cultural push to replace alcohol with marijuana under the so-called “California Sober” trend is colliding with the harsh reality of ER statistics.
From a conservative perspective, this is a textbook example of why restraint and accountability matter. Legalization without safeguards has consequences, and communities like Kane County are left to deal with the fallout. Families deserve transparency about the risks, and taxpayers deserve protection from the costs of a permissive drug culture. CHS is more than a medical diagnosis—it is a warning that our society’s rush to normalize marijuana is dangerously misguided, and it is our young people who are paying the price.
https://www.foxnews.com/health/mysterious-marijuana-linked-vomiting-disorder-gets-official-who-code-er-cases-jump
