Doctors see rise in cannabis hyperemesis, severe vomiting linked to use

Emergency departments that consistently reported to CDC surveillance recorded 5,190 facilities nationwide from January 1, 2023, through May 31, 2026, and cannabis hyperemesis syndrome diagnoses rose 16% from October 2025 to May 2026. Nearly 10% of CHS visits led to hospital admissions, with 1,135 admissions, or 8.8%.

CHS is not a new medical curiosity. It was first described in 2004, and it typically affects people who use cannabis regularly before they develop repeated bouts of severe nausea, abdominal pain and relentless vomiting that can send them back to emergency rooms again and again. Hot showers or baths can temporarily ease the symptoms, but that behavior is not required for diagnosis, and clinicians often miss the illness when patients do not connect it to cannabis at all.

Nausea and vomiting have many possible causes, and CHS can look like a stomach virus, food poisoning or another gastrointestinal disorder. Clinicians can overlook the diagnosis, especially if patients are reluctant to discuss cannabis use, and the result is often repeated dehydration, pain and anxiety without a clear explanation. Cannabis abstinence is the only documented treatment that results in resolution.

The American Association of Medical Colleges puts CHS up more than 500% since 2016 and ties that rise to more potent forms of cannabis. A separate study summary found the syndrome surged by more than 650% between 2016 and 2022. The New Mexico Department of Health puts marijuana use around 4% overall in the United States, even as cannabis-related disorders continue to increase, and by December 2016 more than half of U.S. states had legalized marijuana for recreational use. A new ICD-10-CM code, R11.16, was created for cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome.