Overview
- The WHO update took effect October 1, 2025, and U.S. authorities, including the CDC, have adopted code R11.16 for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome.
- Recent JAMA Network Open research reports CHS-related emergency visits rose about 650% from 2016 to a pandemic-era peak and remain elevated.
- Adolescent cases climbed more than tenfold between 2016 and 2023, with the sharpest burdens reported among ages 13–21 and 18–35.
- Patients present with severe cyclical vomiting often briefly eased by very hot showers, and emergency care typically includes antiemetics, IV fluids, topical capsaicin, and sometimes haloperidol.
- Experts point to higher THC potency and pandemic factors as likely contributors, and they emphasize that stopping cannabis use is the only reliable cure with no FDA-approved medications for cannabis use disorder.