By: Matt Zhang
In a public bathroom in the middle of a mall, Elysse, an eighteen-year-old woman, couldn’t stop throwing up. Again and again and again for an hour, she puked into the toilet. She felt like her body was levitating from all the puking. A couple of years earlier, at age 14, Elysse started to vape cannabis and quickly became addicted to it.
“It was insane. Insane euphoria,” reported Elysse. “Everything was moving slowly. I got super hungry. Everything was hilarious.”
Since nearly everyone Elysse knew was using it, she thought there was nothing to fear. Despite her euphoria later turning into anxiety and sadness, she assumed it to be safe. So, she continued to vape multiple times every day even though it was around 90% THC (the psychoactive component in marijuana).
It wasn’t until a year later in 2019 that her parents found out about her addiction. Her parents, shocked by this discovery, put her in a program to stop her addiction and cannabis use. They tried everything they could to stop the addiction and prevent the side effects from occurring. Unfortunately, it was too late. In 2020, Elysse started to experience a strange illness that caused her to throw up over and over again. After many doctors and trips to the emergency room, a gastroenterologist discovered her illness to be cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a condition that causes repetitive vomiting in heavy marijuana (weed) users.
As regrettable as it is, there is a surge in the number of students of every grade level vaping marijuana. In 2020, according to New York Times, 35% of high school seniors and 44% of college students have been reported using marijuana despite the negative side effects. During their adolescent years of brain development, teenagers are more susceptible to the negative effects of marijuana.
Many studies have shown that cannabis can cause brain alterations during one’s teenage or adolescent time. Not only can it alter the brain, but it can also cause psychotic disorders. According to the New York Times, one study has found psychotic disorders to be five times higher among daily high potency cannabis users in Europe and Brazil compared to those who have never used it.
Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/23/well/mind/teens-thc-cannabis.html