CLEVELAND — A newer condition related to marijuana use is popping up more and more in hospitals. It’s called Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome or CHS, and one man from Cleveland is on a mission to help.
Marlon Crumedy started smoking marijuana when he was 13 years old and saw signs of CHS in the 1990s when doctors didn’t really know what that was.
“Anything I ate at work, bam… I got to go (to the bathroom),” Crumedy said.
“So, you really couldn’t function?” we asked.
“I really couldn’t function. I lost a lot of weight,” he said.
CHS comes with extreme nausea and vomiting, with lots of painful digestive issues. Cleveland Clinic cited a study that shows one-third of “self-reported frequent marijuana users” who went to the emergency room “met the criteria for CHS.”
“I would see more and more people coming for the same things,” Crumedy said. “And it would be like four or five in the emergency room at the same time I’m there.”
A recent CDC study reported cases have “increased sharply,” which “coincided with the widespread state-level cannabis legalization….”
“Higher potency products seem to be more correlated with CHS presentations,” said Dr. Ryan Marino, who is an addiction specialist at Case Western Reserve University.
He said there’s reason to believe the condition will be seen more.
“The biggest thing is that a lot of people still don’t know about this and don’t know about the risk factors,” Marino said. “And that’s not just in the general public but in health care….”
Crumedy decided to start The CHS Truth Project, which is an organization dedicated to CHS education.
“My move is to get to the kids and to get to the young adults to make them aware because they’re not aware right now,” Crumedy said.
He told us he tried ER visits and his own methods to help his CHS.
“The only thing that would make me feel better would be taking hot baths or hot showers,” he said. “But I did it so much to the point that I would be burning my skin.”
He then stopped using marijuana late last year, which right now is the only way to stop CHS. There’s no cure.
He said he feels healthier than ever and ready to spread the word on the syndrome.
“Your body will talk to you because it can’t actually verbally say anything,” Crumedy said. “So, actions will always speak louder than words, and it showed me better than it could tell me.”
