IF WEED ONLY KNOWN BETTER –
May 13, 2021 – Children, she said, are coming into the E.R. with a condition known as cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) at increasingly alarming rates. This condition, which once was hardly seen, is now “occurring across the state,” Rep. Caraveo says.
She describes a teenaged patient who “required hospitalization and frequent follow-up from our office to control abdominal pain and electrolyte abnormalities from her rapid weight loss.” Rep. Caraveo talks about both the physical toll the condition takes on kids as well as the psychiatric issues that are arising from the use of too-potent THC. She has said she favors a cap on THC potency to help prevent these harms, and that she has been considering ways to further limit youth access to the drug. My generation uses the term “green out.” It’s what happens when you take too many edibles, dab, or smoke too big of a blunt. I’m allergic to marijuana and stay away from it as much as I can. But I find myself hit with waves of smoke as I walk down the street of Denver. Just because I avoid the drug doesn’t mean I don’t see what it does to people in my life. Green outs are common among my college peers now. But what’s more startling is how common they are in high school; I worry about my 16-year-old brother facing this new reality in his freshman class. I also think about a 19-year-old family member who started with weed, which became an appetizer for other drugs like speed.
