Dr. Deb Hagler, a pediatrician who practices in largely rural areas of Maine, says chronic use is causing teens to miss out on important developmental milestones like getting a driver’s license and getting a job. and young people. Get things up and running,” she said.
Quitting marijuana can be difficult. People with CHS typically experience the most difficulty, including physical pain similar to withdrawal from more powerful drugs, but some may have difficulty eating, sleeping, and other functions. People who have turned to drugs to relieve anxiety or depression initially find that without cannabis, those underlying problems get worse.
Opioid users can get some relief from addiction medication, but there are no FDA-approved drugs to help people quit marijuana.
Ziva Cooper, director of the UCLA Cannabis and Cannabinoid Center, is seeking funding to study withdrawal from the increasingly popular THC concentrates. Previous studies on withdrawal have been conducted using cannabis containing between 3 and 7 percent THC, making it quite outdated.
“What we’re talking about now and what people are using is a completely different story,” she says.
“People need to know”
In its long and rocky relationship with marijuana, America has alternately admired it, feared it, admired its coolness, locked up those who sold it, and warned our children to say “no.” .
Now, a growing number of doctors and consumers say there is an urgent need for states to balance easy legal access to cannabis with better protections for their citizens in this new cannabis era.
Several initiatives are underway. For example, the Biden administration is moving marijuana into a less restrictive drug category, which would allow for more research into its health benefits and risks. And federal legislation that took effect last year aims to ease other barriers to scientific research.
Some medical professional bodies have issued guidelines for the treatment of cannabis-related illnesses. And the CDC says it plans to release a clear diagnosis code for cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome late next year, which could help determine the scope of such cases.
Still, many people interviewed or surveyed by The Times said more needed to be done to identify, track and address the damage. “We scientists have done a really bad job of educating the public,” said Dr. D’Souza, a psychiatrist at Yale University.
If Macaluso, an Illinois hairdresser, had known that marijuana could cause so much pain, she wouldn’t have continued using it after her symptoms started, much less increased her intake. He said it would be fine.
“My biggest thing is people need to know,” she said. “They just need a warning.”
Audio production: Jack DiSidro
Reporting contributed by Katie JM Baker, Josh Katz, Alex Lemonides, and Jeremy Singer-Vine. Julie Tate contributed to the research.
