What Do You Do if....

[Zinjanthropos]

...you know someone who exhibits some of the symptoms in this story. Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS). Here’s a heartbreaking story. After reading this case I wondered just how much the parents might be at fault and how, if they were poor, could they afford marijuana in the first place? Maybe I’m questioning priorities here but the medical community in this case also let these people down I think. Specifically testing waits and why do some doctors know about it and others not, as in diagnosing?

I know someone who periodically goes through the symptoms mentioned in the story. I feel I have to say something even if it means risking a friendship or usurping a doctor. We’re talking long time or heavy pot smokers. One cure....stop.

Is this an example of possibly a number of maladies pot smoking may contribute to that will be discovered as time moves on or is pot’s legality going to allow more intense research on the affects of marijuana smoking? 

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326357.php#1

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-libr...drome.html

[C C]

Ideally, you might assemble a group of people that they're favorably familiar with (i.e., friends, family, etc) and have an intervention session (with data) where you express the concerns together.

Going the lone ranger route of doing that and then ending with the "I'm here for you, if you need someone to talk to and should ever down the road you realize you need help" might be easier for the individual to conspiratorially deflect as "Mister Moral Busybody and Control Freak trying to interfere in my life".

OTOH, if they're afflicted even mildly with SAD or AvPD, then a collective involvement like that might drive them to retreat into a figurative panicked corner (either outwardly in behavior or secretively as a psychological state). "OMG, OMG, they all think I'm a spiraling into some junkie loser abyss. This is too public."

Have to use your personal knowledge of _X_ to gauge what approach is best (probably additional options).

[stryder]

One method is education.
Cannabis/Tobacco isn't burnt at an optimal temperature due to it's natural state of impurities as well as the impurities through it's unnatural growth assistance (weedkillers, pesticides, fungicides, fertilizers etc) and processing (such as folding in plastic wrapping in hashish, or bleaching on cigarette papers etc). Smoke is the result of inefficiently combusted materials which includes toxicity.

The problem with smoke inhalation is that its not as simple to gauge when you've had too much and when you do reach that point the body can forcively evict the "dose" that's been taken. It also layers the lungs, smothering them from proper oxygenation which leads to the anxiety and fits that people can have from their bodies subconscious need for survival.

Edibles (Cake/Cookies/Popcorn etc) on the other hand are a different story, as if you eat too much and you have a reaction, you can always stick your fingers down your throat and bring it back up. In the worse case scenario you'd require the assistance of a stomach pump (and probably about 3 days to "mong")

There have been some adverse stories down to edibles though, from a mixture of contaminated cooking (using products that have gone off or in environments that aren't fit for human consumables) or from putting too much cannabis product in. (Consumption isn't as fast reacting as smoking, so people tend to gorge thinking their food is ineffective only to have the effects kick in later at extreme levels, so don't pig out.)

There have been studies suggesting that CBD isn't as effective as some thought in regards to dealing with PTSD etc. I actually rationalize the psychedelic removal is responsible for this finding, mainly because conditions like PTSD is constant state of mind and psychedelics can act like an interrupt of "normal" interpretative functioning, thereby interrupting the condition.

[Zinjanthropos]

I realize that improper combustion and its resultant byproducts are not ideal for inhalation, toxic CO being one of them. My problem is that I've constantly or continuously harped to this person that they're simply ingesting/inhaling way too much of the weed and that there just aren't enough medical studies available to assess the overall safety of marijuana use, particularly heavy or long term affects. It's gotten to the point that I don't even mention it anymore when we meet up. However the latest bout of vomiting and abdominal pains seemed to go on for almost two weeks. Visits to hospital and drugs administered or prescribed didn't seem to be able to stop it to much of a degree and I think only the pauses in usage and perhaps the vomiting itself helped end the symptoms, gone for now. Couple that with the uncertainty I have as to how well information is passed on in the medical profession.... are they all up to date and able to make a proper diagnosis?

I don't think I can take the direct approach anymore so my plan is to mention CHS to a best friend of theirs and have them deliver the message. Problem is the best friend is also a heavy/long time user. Since I haven't become a pain in the ass to this friend I think I'll just let it slip that I've heard of CHS and how it"s often not diagnosed correctly plus it doesn't affect all smokers the same way, kind of lighten up the concern of any apparent danger that may or may not be lurking.

[stryder]

[h1]Vaping linked to teen's 'popcorn lung' type injury[/h1]

A Canadian teenager has developed a vaping-related lung injury similar to "popcorn lung", his doctors say.

The condition was previously seen in workers who were exposed to the chemical flavouring diacetyl as they packaged microwave popcorn.

The Canadian case may be the first showing a new type of damage from vaping products, distinct from lung injuries seen in the US and elsewhere.

The case is documented in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

His condition deteriorated and he was hospitalised and briefly placed on life support. He spent 47 days in hospital and narrowly avoided needing a double lung transplant, though there may be severe long-lasting lung damage, doctors say.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50494871

I'm sure it was scary for the 17 yr old and likely tied to an allergic reaction to toxicity (it likely says more in the Journal)