A side effect of long-term marijuana use -- dubbed "scromiting" -- is on the rise nationwide.
Medically, the term refers to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS), cycles of persistent nausea, severe vomiting and abdominal pain after long-term use of cannabis, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Vomiting and retching can occur up to five times an hour.
Other symptoms also include loss of appetite and a fear of throwing up.
The condition is often referred to as "scromiting," a combination of screaming and vomiting, as many patients will scream as a result of the intense pain they experience while vomiting.
Symptoms typically begin several years after chronic marijuana use. However, not everyone who uses marijuana long-term experiences CHS.
"They are writhing, holding their stomach, complaining of really bad abdominal pain and nausea," Dr. Sam Wang -- a pediatric emergency medicine specialist and toxicologist at Children's Hospital Colorado, who treats adolescents with the condition -- told CNN. "They vomit and then just continue to vomit whatever they have in their stomach, which can go on for hours."
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A study published July 2025 from the JAMA Network Open found a 10-fold increase nationwide in emergency room visits for CHS patients aged 13 to 21 between 2016 and 2023.
Another JAMA Network study, published November 2025, revealed an increase in CHS among patients ages 18 to 35 during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has since remained high.
Patients have taken to social media to caution others about the unusual condition.
One TikTok user said she's in the middle of her recovery from "scromiting." She said she was hospitalized for CHS and "my body was giving up on me."
"It is horrifying. It is the scariest thing I've ever gone through in my entire life," she explained. "You don't wanna be that person going to the ER multiple times a week, throwing up almost 20 times a day, not being able to keep food down for weeks on end."
"The only way I can describe it is a living hell," she added.
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One mother on TikTok explained that she experienced "scromiting" and it felt worse than childbirth.
"It was some of the worst physical pain I've ever experienced in my life," she said. "It was really bad. I was crying and screaming and I was like 'I can't take this anymore! I hate my life.' I'm just begging God, like please make it stop!"
Treatment for CHS consists of anti-nausea medications and IV fluids. The only known permanent treatment is stopping cannabis use completely.
If not treated, CHS can lead to serious health complications, including dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, malnutrition, weight loss, tooth decay, injury to the esophagus and more.
Before the legalization of marijuana, cases of CHS were unreported and data for research on the condition were limited. Experts are now able to analyze the side effect with more patients being comfortable reporting their use of cannabis.
Additionally, on October 1, 2025, a U.S. federal committee created an official medical diagnosis code for CHS, enabling researchers worldwide to better track the condition.