Doctors Are Begging People to Google This Before Their Next Joint: The Horrifying Reason Some Weed Users End Up Screaming While Vomiting

If you’ve never heard the word “scromiting,” you’re not alone; but ER doctors across the country wish you had. It’s the stomach-churning nickname for what happens when heavy cannabis use backfires in the worst possible way: uncontrollable vomiting so violent that patients literally scream between heaves. The medical name is Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS), and hospitals are seeing it explode.

“People show up doubled over, retching for hours, sometimes days,” says Dr. Chris Buresh, an emergency physician in Iowa who’s treated dozens of cases. “They’ve usually have no idea weed is the cause; they think they have food poisoning or a stomach bug; until it happens again… and again.”

The attacks are brutal. Nausea hits like a freight train, vomiting won’t stop, and the abdominal pain is so bad some people end up in the fetal position begging for relief. Weirdly, the only thing that temporarily helps most of them is scalding-hot showers or baths. Doctors say patients will sit under the water until the tank runs cold; then panic when the relief fades.

Standard anti-nausea meds like Zofran? Useless. Doctors are sometimes forced to use Haldol (yes, the same drug used for psychotic breaks) or tell people to rub spicy capsaicin cream (the stuff that makes chili peppers burn) on their bellies.

The only real cure? Quit weed completely. But because episodes can be weeks or months apart, a lot of users convince themselves it was a one-off and light up again… only to land right back in the ER.

No one knows exactly why it only hits certain people. Researchers think years of heavy use eventually overloads the body’s endocannabinoid system, flipping a switch that turns the “don’t puke” button into permanent “puke everything, forever” mode.

What’s really scary: cases in teenagers have spiked more than 10 times since 2016, and the biggest jumps are actually happening in states where weed is still illegal (probably because black-market carts and super-potent concentrates).

As of October 2025, the World Health Organization finally gave CHS its own official diagnosis code, which means doctors can finally track it properly instead of writing “vomiting – unknown cause” on charts.

So yeah, weed isn’t always the harmless chill pill it’s been sold as. If you or someone you know is a daily user and suddenly can’t stop throwing up (especially if hot showers are the only relief), it might be time to take a serious break.

Your stomach will thank you. And the ER staff definitely will.