As marijuana becomes legal in more parts of the United States, be it medicinal or recreational, more people are using it. That also means more people are experiencing its unpleasant and potentially dangerous side effects.
A recent data analysis done for The New York Times found that nearly a third of all users – about 18 million people – have reported symptoms of cannabis use disorder, and about 3 million of them would be considered addicted to cannabis.
Symptoms of cannabis use disorder include impaired control, cannabis use becoming a high priority – even if it causes issues in your school, work, or personal life or leads to riskier behavior, and physiological dependence – needing more cannabis to get the same high or showing symptoms of withdrawal. These are all symptoms commonly associated with addiction, as well.
The Columbia University epidemiologist who did the analysis for the Times based her research on responses to the 2022 national drug use survey conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The researcher found cannabis use was especially common among 18- to 25-year-olds surveyed, with 4.5 million reporting they use it daily or almost daily. Furthermore, 81% of them met the criteria for cannabis use disorder.
Doctors say they’ve seen a sharp rise in something called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). It’s a condition brought on by heavy cannabis use that causes users to experience nausea, vomiting and pain and can lead to extreme dehydration, seizures, kidney failure and cardiac arrest.
In rare and extreme cases, CHS has been deadly. The Times said it found CHS could be linked to at least eight deaths in the U.S. since the condition was first documented in 2004 – including some cases that were not previously known about before the Times commissioned this study.
CHS is not consistently documented, but researchers estimate up to a third of near-daily cannabis users in the U.S. experience mild to severe symptoms of it.
Another side effect of marijuana that’s not often warned about but is becoming more common is temporary psychosis. It’s also being increasingly linked to people developing chronic psychotic disorders, like schizophrenia.
While some form of marijuana use is legal in fewer than half of states, it remains illegal under federal law. With that, its effects have not been widely studied, and laws surrounding marijuana use are not consistent.
