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Published: 03 December 2025

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Recent national policy changes have made cannabis increasingly available for medical purposes across numerous conditions. Yet a significant gap exists between what’s approved for cannabis therapeutic use and what scientific evidence actually supports. Understanding this distinction is crucial for public health and informed decision-making.

The FDA Approval Reality for Cannabis Therapeutic Use

Despite widespread availability of medical cannabis in dispensaries, the FDA has approved only three cannabis-related medications. Two are synthetic forms of delta-9-THC (dronabinol and nabilone), approved since the 1980s for treating nausea and appetite loss in AIDS and chemotherapy patients. The third, Epidiolex, contains highly purified cannabidiol (CBD) and treats severe childhood epilepsy.

These medications underwent rigorous randomised, placebo-controlled trials—the gold standard required of every prescription medicine. In contrast, the cannabis available at dispensaries has bypassed this scientific process entirely. Notably, even these FDA-approved medications have extremely narrow, specific applications and are not appropriate for the broad range of conditions for which dispensary cannabis is marketed.

Medical Cannabis Research: Significant Limitations

Dr Margaret Haney, director of Columbia University’s Cannabis Research Laboratory, highlights a critical problem: “Our societal changes have far exceeded placebo-controlled evidence.” Researchers face substantial barriers when studying cannabis therapeutic use due to its Schedule 1 classification, which requires extensive licensing and restricts available products for research.

This means scientists cannot simply purchase products from dispensaries to study their effectiveness. Instead, they’re limited to federally approved sources, creating a disconnect between what researchers can study and what patients actually use.

The Placebo Effect Challenge

Pain, anxiety, and sleep difficulties—the most common reasons people seek cannabis for medicinal purposes—are also the conditions most susceptible to placebo effects. When expectations are high, the brain can produce genuine symptom relief regardless of treatment content.

Studies examining cannabis therapeutic use consistently show this pattern. In one trial of women with chemotherapy-induced nerve pain, both the cannabis group and placebo group showed identical improvements. Pain ratings decreased significantly over eight weeks in both conditions, yet cannabis provided no additional benefit beyond placebo.

Cannabis Use Disorder: An Underestimated Risk

Approximately 5.8% of the population meets criteria for cannabis use disorder. When used daily for medical purposes, risk factors multiply. Users seeking cannabis therapeutic use develop higher rates of cannabis use disorder compared to those without chronic conditions, particularly when treating pain, anxiety, or depression.

Individuals with existing psychiatric diagnoses face double the risk of developing cannabis use disorder. Moreover, concurrent cannabis use worsens treatment outcomes for both the psychiatric condition and the substance use disorder itself—yet anxiety and depression remain leading reasons people seek medicinal cannabis despite minimal supporting evidence.

The therapeutic dose often produces intoxication, and repeated daily use increases dependency risk. Over 80% of medicinal cannabis users also use it recreationally, blurring the line between medical necessity and problematic use.

Cannabis Withdrawal: A Real Phenomenon

Daily cannabis users experience withdrawal symptoms when stopping, including:

• Severely disrupted sleep with increased nightmares
• Dramatic decrease in appetite
• Increased anxiety and irritability
• Depressed mood and restlessness

These symptoms can last weeks, with sleep disruption being particularly persistent. Many users believe they “need” cannabis to sleep or eat, when they’re actually experiencing withdrawal symptoms from dependency.

Anaesthesiologists report concerning patterns amongst daily cannabis users undergoing surgery. Patients arriving in acute withdrawal often experience heightened anxiety and increased pain sensitivity, requiring additional anxiolytic medication even before entering the operating theatre. Yet no evidence-based protocols exist for managing pre-surgical cannabis cessation—some physicians recommend stopping the morning of surgery, others suggest a month beforehand, but no data guides these decisions.

The State-by-State Confusion

Unlike other medications, cannabis regulations vary dramatically by state. The same condition deemed treatable with cannabis in one state may not qualify in a neighbouring state. This political approach to medicine means elected officials, rather than scientific evidence, determine what constitutes effective treatment for cannabis therapeutic use.

Healthcare providers face an impossible situation. They lack dosing guidelines, delivery method recommendations, or evidence-based protocols for different conditions. There’s no reliable information about THC-to-CBD ratios, appropriate concentrations, or how to address risks in vulnerable populations.

What We Actually Know

Whilst laboratory studies suggest cannabis may affect pain sensitivity and appetite under highly controlled conditions, these findings have consistently failed to translate into real-world clinical benefits.

The body possesses its own endocannabinoid system—natural cannabis-like compounds that regulate stress, pain, mood, and appetite. Cannabis overwhelms this delicate system in ways the body’s natural compounds never would. When people use cannabis daily, the brain attempts to adapt by reducing cannabinoid receptors, leading to tolerance.

Crucially, tolerance develops differently across effects. In studies with HIV patients, cannabis initially increased caloric intake significantly, but by day nine, this therapeutic benefit disappeared entirely—whilst intoxicating effects remained unchanged. This creates a troubling scenario where users must increase doses to maintain symptom relief, yet continue experiencing intoxication.

Some studies reveal cannabis worsening targeted symptoms. Research on obsessive-compulsive disorder found both high-THC and high-CBD cannabis increased anxiety rather than reducing it. The neuropathic pain trial showed sleep quality was actually worse in the cannabis group compared to placebo.

Route of administration significantly impacts risk. High-potency THC oils in vaporisers and “dabs” (over 85% THC) carry substantially greater dependency risk than traditional cannabis flower. When Dr Haney began her research, cannabis contained approximately 2% THC; today’s dispensary products reach 25-30% THC.

Sex differences also matter significantly. Women show greater sensitivity to cannabis’s pleasurable effects and withdrawal symptoms, yet demonstrate reduced pain relief compared to men at equivalent doses. This suggests optimal dosing may differ substantially between sexes, though current guidance doesn’t account for this.

The Path Forward

Evidence-based medicine requires randomised, placebo-controlled trials with products of known composition. Until such evidence exists, claims about cannabis therapeutic use effectiveness remain largely unsubstantiated.

The current situation represents a billion-dollar industry operating without the scientific foundation required of every other medication. Medical benefit has become whatever marketers claim it to be, with no obligation to prove effectiveness through controlled trials.

Much of what’s marketed as medicinal cannabis relies on expectation rather than pharmacology. The public deserves accurate information about both potential benefits and genuine risks, including cannabis use disorder, withdrawal symptoms, tolerance development, and the lack of dosing guidance. Making informed decisions about cannabis therapeutic use requires understanding what science has—and hasn’t—proven, and recognising that current evidence does not support the widespread medical claims being made.

(Source: WRD News)

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Published: 03 December 2025

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After more than two decades of mounting evidence and healthcare system strain, the World Health Organisation has formally recognised cannabis hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) in its International Classification of Diseases, marking a watershed moment in the acknowledgement of marijuana-related harms that industry propaganda has deliberately obscured.

The WHO published guidance in October 2025 establishing dedicated diagnostic codes that took effect on 1 October, which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has adopted. The classification assigns CHS the code ICD-10-CM R11.16 and lists it as a synonym under ICD-11 code DD90.4. This formal classification enables physicians worldwide to properly identify, track, and study a condition that has plagued healthcare systems whilst being systematically downplayed by cannabis advocates.

The Smokescreen of Denial

Researchers first described the syndrome in a published case series in 2004, yet its formal recognition comes only now, over two decades later. Health experts argue this delay reflects a broader pattern of denial that pro-cannabis lobbying efforts have fuelled, consistently deflecting attention from emerging harms that marijuana use causes.

“This just one individual and health care system crippling outcome of cannabis use is unsustainable for any healthcare system, free or paid for,” noted one public health commentary in 2023. “The cannabis lobby and industry continue to deflect, as does the cannabis user, at this growing endemic and the outrageous expense it is incurring on non-drug using taxpayers.”

Medical literature first documented the paradoxical hyperemetic effects of marijuana in 2004, despite its well-known antiemetic properties. Even in subsequent years, experts emphasised that understanding the diagnostic criteria could reduce unnecessary investigations and inappropriate treatments. Yet formal recognition comes only now, with many attributing the delay to relentless cannabis propaganda that has bogged down fact and science in denial.

The Horror of ‘Scromiting’

Cannabis hyperemesis syndrome manifests as a dangerous condition affecting chronic cannabis users with severe nausea, repeated vomiting, abdominal pain, dehydration, weight loss, and in rare cases, heart rhythm problems, seizures, kidney failure, and death.

Patients suffer from what emergency room staff have termed “scromiting” (screaming and vomiting simultaneously due to extreme pain). The condition’s severity cannot be overstated: in 2024, a 22-year-old woman who had used cannabis since age 14 died after suffering from CHS for over three years. Her repeated vomiting episodes led to dangerously low potassium levels, ultimately triggering torsades de pointes, a fatal heart arrhythmia. Despite doctors restarting her heart, she had gone without oxygenated blood flow to her brain for over 30 minutes, resulting in irreversible damage. Doctors declared her brain dead four days later.

Emergency Departments Overwhelmed by Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome

A study published in JAMA Network Open in November 2025 revealed that CHS-related emergency room visits spiked approximately 650% from 2016 to their peak during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly amongst those aged 18 to 35. The surge has remained elevated ever since.

Beatriz Carlini, a research associate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, emphasised the importance of the new diagnostic code: “It helps us count and monitor these cases. A new code for cannabis hyperemesis syndrome will supply important hard evidence on cannabis-adverse events, which physicians tell us is a growing problem.”

The dramatic increase in THC potency has likely contributed to rising rates. Today’s cannabis products often exceed 20% THC (some reaching over 90%) compared to just 5% in the 1990s. Researchers suggest isolation, stress, and increased access to these high-potency products during the pandemic accelerated the trend.

John Puls, a Florida-based psychotherapist and nationally certified addiction specialist, stated he has witnessed an “alarming” increase in marijuana hyperemesis, particularly amongst adolescents and young adults. “In my opinion, and the research also supports this, the increased rates of CHS are absolutely linked to high-potency cannabis,” he told media outlets.

Puls noted that the most common misconception claims the condition isn’t real, precisely the narrative cannabis advocates have promoted. “I believe the new diagnosis code is a significant step in the right direction,” he said.

Misdiagnosis and Patient Suffering

Until now, doctors struggled to diagnose cannabis hyperemesis syndrome because symptoms mimic food poisoning, stomach flu, and other gastrointestinal conditions. Some patients have gone months or years without answers, enduring repeated emergency room visits and expensive, unnecessary investigations.

A telltale sign is that sufferers often find relief only through long, hot showers (a temporary fix that scientists still don’t fully understand). However, the syndrome’s intermittent nature leads many users to believe episodes are flukes, continuing cannabis use only to become violently sick again.

Dr Chris Buresh, an emergency medicine specialist with UW Medicine, noted the paradox: “Some people say they’ve used cannabis without a problem for decades. But even small amounts can make these people start throwing up.”

Stopping cannabis use appears to be the only reliable cure. Typical nausea medications rarely help, forcing doctors to turn to stronger drugs or capsaicin cream. Yet many patients resist the diagnosis, and even those who accept it struggle to quit due to addiction.

One theory suggests heavy, long-term cannabis use overstimulates the body’s cannabinoid system, triggering the opposite of marijuana’s usual anti-nausea effect. Whilst cannabis can treat nausea in low doses (typically under 5% THC), the high-potency products now dominating the market appear to produce devastating consequences.

Financial Burden on Healthcare Systems

The healthcare costs that marijuana hyperemesis generates are staggering. Repeated emergency room visits, extensive diagnostic testing, hospital admissions, and futile treatment attempts place enormous strain on medical systems, with non-drug-using taxpayers ultimately bearing these costs.

Health commentators have described this burden as “unsustainable,” yet the cannabis industry continues to deflect responsibility whilst profiting from increasingly potent products.

As cannabis legalisation spreads and high-potency products proliferate, health experts expect cases to continue rising. The WHO’s formal recognition is anticipated to dramatically improve surveillance and help physicians spot trends earlier.

“My hope would be that with this new diagnosis code that CHS is more accurately diagnosed in an emergency room setting,” Puls said, adding that once someone experiences cannabis hyperemesis syndrome, they’re more likely to suffer it again.

Breaking Through the Propaganda

The two-decade delay in formal recognition highlights how effectively cannabis industry propaganda has obscured emerging harms. Whilst marijuana advocates have promoted the plant as harmless medicine, emergency departments have quietly dealt with the growing reality of “scromiting” patients and, in tragic cases, preventable deaths.

The WHO’s decision to add the condition to its diagnostic manual represents not just a medical milestone, but a public acknowledgement that the “smokescreen of denial” surrounding cannabis harms can no longer be sustained.

Understanding and acknowledging this syndrome is essential. Pursuing abstinence from cannabis leads to resolution of symptoms in the majority of patients, a simple truth that doctors may have recognised years earlier had relentless industry denial not bogged down science.

(Source: WRD News)

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Published: 27 November 2025

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In a revelation from her recent memoir published last month, Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai shared how cannabis triggered trauma from the 2012 Taliban attack that nearly killed her.

A University Experiment Gone Wrong

Whilst studying at Oxford University, the shooting survivor tried smoking cannabis from a bong with friends in a campus summerhouse. What seemed like a harmless student experience quickly turned into a nightmare.

“I knew this feeling, the terror of being trapped inside my body. This had happened before,” Malala writes in her memoir Finding My Way.

How Cannabis Triggered Trauma She Thought She’d Forgotten

After using the bong, Malala experienced severe physical and psychological reactions. She lost the ability to walk, her muscles locked up, and vivid flashbacks to the shooting began flooding her mind – memories she thought her brain had erased.

The drug use unlocked traumatic memories from her seven-day coma following the Taliban attack. Images replayed relentlessly: her school bus, a man with a gun, blood everywhere, strangers carrying her body through crowded streets.

“There was no escape, no place to hide from my own mind,” she recalled.

The Dangerous Reality of Drug-Induced Trauma

Malala’s friend carried her back to the dormitory, where she spent hours on the bathroom floor, vomiting, screaming, and shaking. She feared closing her eyes, worried the nightmares would trap her in an endless loop of terror.

“If you fall asleep, you will die!” she remembered telling herself, staying awake through the night and into the morning.

The experience revealed a crucial truth: substance use can trigger or worsen serious mental health episodes, particularly in individuals with trauma histories. Cannabis triggered trauma that Malala’s brain had protectively suppressed for years, violently unleashing what she thought she’d forgotten.

A Sobering Warning About Cannabis and Trauma

Malala’s experience demonstrates that cannabis is not the harmless substance many believe it to be. For individuals with underlying trauma, anxiety, or other mental health vulnerabilities, drug use can unleash devastating psychological consequences.

Her friend’s words haunted her afterwards: “It stays in your blood.”

This powerful account serves as a stark reminder that substance use – even experimental or recreational – can trigger unpredictable and severe reactions, particularly in those who have experienced trauma. Cannabis triggered trauma that had lain buried for years, proving that drug use can unlock dangerous psychological responses.

Read the full extract from Malala’s memoir here: WRD NEWS

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Published: 27 November 2025

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Devastating new research from the American College of Surgeons has exposed the lethal consequences of cannabis-impaired driving, revealing that more than 40% of drivers killed in car crashes between 2019 and 2024 in Ohio tested positive for high levels of THC.

Moreover, the findings, released last week, shatter the persistent myth that cannabis is a harmless substance with no fatal consequences. Indeed, the data adds to mounting evidence that driving under the influence of marijuana poses a severe and growing threat to road safety across the United States.

Federal Data Confirms Rising Threat of Drug-Impaired Driving

Significantly, the Ohio study aligns with multiple federal investigations documenting the escalating danger of cannabis-impaired driving on American roads. For instance, a 2022 study by the National Traffic Safety Board found marijuana present in approximately one-third of all motorists arrested for impaired driving nationwide.

Furthermore, research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that same year revealed that over 25% of individuals killed or seriously injured in road accidents who tested positive for any drug had used marijuana. Remarkably, this figure exceeded the 23% who tested positive for alcohol, therefore signalling a fundamental shift in road safety threats.

Dangerous Misconceptions Fuel Cannabis-Impaired Driving Crisis

Perhaps most alarming is the widespread misunderstanding amongst cannabis users about the drug’s effects on driving ability. Consequently, a survey conducted by the Foundation for Traffic Safety earlier this year questioned 2,000 cannabis users, uncovering troubling attitudes towards drug-impaired driving.

Specifically, the research found that nearly 85% of cannabis users drive on the same day they consume marijuana. More concerningly, 81% believe that using cannabis either has no effect on their driving or actually improves it, a misconception with potentially fatal consequences.

In Virginia, for example, approximately 17% of residents admitted to driving whilst high multiple times in the previous month, according to the state Cannabis Control Authority. In other words, that equates to nearly one in five people regularly operating vehicles whilst under the influence. Disturbingly, 30% of respondents believe cannabis users are usually safe drivers.

State-Level Evidence Links Legalisation to Increased Fatalities

Meanwhile, data from states that have legalised recreational cannabis reveals a disturbing pattern. Notably, Washington state witnessed the proportion of drivers involved in fatal collisions who tested positive for THC double after legalisation, from approximately 9% on average in the five years before legalisation to 18% in the subsequent five years.

Similarly, Colorado, an early adopter of cannabis legalisation in 2014, experienced a near doubling of cannabis-related car crash fatalities between 2013 and 2020. Following legalisation in Oregon, Alaska, and California, car crash deaths increased by 22%, 20%, and 14% respectively.

As a result, these statistics suggest that legalisation contributes to increased cannabis-impaired driving incidents, thereby undermining road safety gains achieved through decades of public health initiatives.

The Erosion of Road Safety Culture

Over several decades, America developed a powerful cultural taboo against drink-driving, largely through sustained education and prevention campaigns by organisations such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Subsequently, these efforts fundamentally changed public attitudes and behaviours, saving countless lives.

However, the data indicates that cannabis legalisation has eroded similar taboos against drug-impaired driving. In particular, industry marketing campaigns promoting cannabis as medically beneficial and harmless have contributed to dangerous misperceptions about the drug’s effects on driving ability.

Additionally, the parallels with historic tobacco industry tactics are striking. Decades ago, tobacco companies paid medical professionals and scientists to promote cigarettes as beneficial to health. Today, the cannabis industry employs sophisticated marketing strategies that downplay or ignore the substance’s well-documented risks.

Broader Health Concerns Beyond Road Safety

Nevertheless, the dangers of cannabis extend well beyond impaired driving. Recent studies have linked marijuana use to serious cardiac events, damaged fertility in women, schizophrenia, and other severe mental health conditions. Furthermore, high-profile incidents involving individuals with documented cannabis use have highlighted the drug’s potential connection to violent behaviour.

Consequently, these broader health implications underscore the need for comprehensive approaches to cannabis prevention that address both immediate risks like cannabis-impaired driving and long-term health consequences.

Urgent Need for Prevention and Education

Clearly, the escalating crisis of drug-impaired driving demands immediate action. Therefore, robust awareness and prevention programmes are essential to educate the public, particularly younger drivers, about the deadly dangers of operating vehicles whilst under the influence of cannabis.

In addition, states must reconsider policies that have normalised cannabis use without adequate safeguards or public health protections. Indeed, the rush to legalisation has outpaced understanding of the substance’s risks, thus creating preventable tragedies on roads across the nation.

Moreover, federal authorities should prioritise research into cannabis-impaired driving, develop evidence-based prevention strategies, and support states in implementing effective enforcement and education measures. Ultimately, public health campaigns must counter industry messaging and establish clear understanding that cannabis significantly impairs driving ability.

In conclusion, the evidence is unequivocal: cannabis-impaired driving represents a growing threat to public safety. Only through comprehensive prevention efforts, honest public education, and evidence-based policy can this escalating crisis be addressed effectively.

(Source: WRD News)