Is YOUR Cannabis Poisoning You? Are You Experiencing Nausea? Vomiting? Lingering Digestive Issues? Doctors Telling You It's CHS?
(UPDATE CHS does actually exist! I have information from a small number of people who continue to have issues with THC, regardless of how clean their cannabis is. Using low thc cannabis in tiny amounts seems to be ok, and high CBD content does not cause the issue. Using too often, or using too high of a concentration and CHS rears its ugly head. The GOOD news? (for most of us anyway) I estimate about 90% or more of CHS sufferers are solely due to neem/aza contamination 1/18/2019)
There is a Popular "Organic" Pesticide Ingredient Called Azadirachtin And It's Causing Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome
This pesticide is heavily used by many dispensaries and growers. The most common symptoms of CHS are:
- Nausea
- Intestinal Gas
- Slow Digestion
- Cyclical vomiting
- Muscle Tension
- Hypothermia
- Body Pain
Doctors will tell you it's due to using cannabis. The truth is almost all cases can be connected with using cannabis contaminated with azadirachtin. Cannabis absorbs and holds on to elements and chemicals very well, it's used to clean soils of toxins (phytoremediation). Cannabis absorbs and holds azadirachtin for significant periods of time, keeping it fresh for poisoning the person who eventually uses it.
Want Relief?
Doctors will tell you to quit using cannabis, which for some of us is not an option. You need to find cannabis from growers who produce "Clean" cannabis. In the meantime, you'll want some relief from the issues you're currently facing.
- Take a HOT Shower/Bath: CHS Symptoms are reduced almost instantly
- Use Antihistamines: Benadryl and other allergy medications can bring temporary relief
- Eat 2 Activated Charcoal Pills a Day: Azadirachtin breaks down slowly and the pills help rid the toxin
- Use Capsicum Based Skin Creams: The capsicum has been shown to effectively reduce symptoms for a while
- Get Tested and Treated for H.Pylori: This bacterial issue contributes heavily to the digestive problems from CHS
Exposure is an Infinite Variable
Azadirachtin is mixed at varying amounts by different growers, and also used at varying times throughout each grow. Each crop can come out lightly or heavily contaminated with Azadirachtin, depending on the circumstances. Each of us, as a cannabis user, also consume varying amounts. Someone who smokes all day, every day, will show signs of poisoning within a week with lightly contaminated cannabis. Someone else can get the same level of symptoms from a bowl a day, using heavily contaminated cannabis.
It STAYS In Resin as Well!!
If you've smoked azadirachtin tainted cannabis through a pipe or bong, the resin in it will be tainted with azadirachtin. This can cause continuing issues, even after you've switched to clean cannabis!! So, be warned!
Azadirachtin is an extract of Neem oil, a fairly useful tree oil which has been used for hundreds of years. An ounce of neem oil can contain between 200ppm and 2000ppm of azadiractin. When exposed to light, water and air, azadirachtin degrades quickly (like it does when used on fruit and vegetables). When azadirachtin has been absorbed by cannabis, the azadirachtin remains fresh for months. Exposing broken up contaminated cannabis to flourescent lighting (12" away) has been observed to break down a lot of the azadirachtin. YMMV
Another thing that you may add to your diet to help in cleansing the toxins is cilantro and parsley. Both have been shown to help chelation of toxins, particularly heavy metals, from our system. And they taste good as well.
But as you said, find clean cannabis. This is the only real way to make sure we don't expose ourselves to toxins that may worsen ailments that we use cannabis to treat.
Peace
Good points! Greatly appreciate you sharing. :)
I've wondered more than once what my heavy metal load was. lol I'm posting about aza again, due to having picked up some tainted dispensary cannabis for the wife. This last grow was all high CBD and the wife needs more THC than I do.
Main post edited to include how aza taints the resin in smoking devices as well. I've been re-poisoned by old resin, even when using clean cannabis. Ouch!
I have been warning people about this quite a bit.
Another huge indicator is when you take a puff your mouth will water and you instantly get nauseous. That is definitely the sign of acute toxicity as well as your body reacting.
Just because neem oil is organic doesn't mean it is good for you.
If you are watching your temperature and humidity you can eliminate the problem of spider mites without having to use neem oil or pesticides. Wind and Rain are a spider mites worst enemies.
And by the way some people are more sensitive 2 certain chemicals and poisons then other people are. So on some people a low dose produces acute symptoms.
Very good points! Thanks for helping the cause as well, the more people who know about it the better. :)
I'm extremely sensitive to aza :( I had an H.Pylori infection which acts as a double whammy. I'm 1000% better, after getting rid of the H.Pylori. :)
Thanks!
They should wash their cannabis before they distribute it.
Sorry, but aza does not wash out. Most cannabis is grown dirty and yes, a good rinse before trim/dry does wonders. :)
they should just stick with the non-toxic pesticides like Pyrethrum
They should put more money into infrastructure, which will allow them to grow without pesticides. Cannabis absorbs things really well and pyrethrum leaves a rather ugly taste. A lot like Kali Mist genetics, which I also cannot stand the flavor of. lol :)
I only try and spray in vegetative stage. Only use a pesticide in flower if an infestation gets really bad. I recently had to use an emulsifiable botanical oil called 'Eco-Oil' to get rid of spider mites.
I either let it go or chop and start over. I use soap or alcohol based sprays in veg only. Filtered intakes and clean garden practices keep infections super low. :) I'll have to write up a post on it. :)
I'd gotten rid of most of the mites and it's a few weeks off harvest. It's also an outdoor grow so insects are inevitable, there's usually ladybugs early in the morning flying around looking for food.
To the question in your title, my Magic 8-Ball says:
Hi! I'm a bot, and this answer was posted automatically. Check this post out for more information.
Thanks for this article. I found it after finding your older one. Is there an even newer one?
Also, does anyone have any links to back this up? I believe it, but I need more than a hunch before I can share it with others. I've been trying to find a study on this, but so far nothing.
If neem is causing poisoning in hundreds of thousands of cannabis users, and they're completely unaware, we should get this message heard!!
The updates I can remember off-hand are the use of capsaicin cream (topical), "Clarified" neem oil has the aza removed and 'may' be ok use. There are a few drugs which mask the main symptoms, aside from the digestive issues, which have allowed people to suffer heavy doses for long periods. Nasty situations.
As for links? Nope... nothing yet. Neem/aza are still approved in all the legal states, except recently for a few months when the neem supply was tainted. I don't know of any actual studies being done. I do continue to run across new people who have aza issues, issues which go away when they quit using aza cannabis.
I had someone tell me they and their friends came down with it and they know it's cannabis related. How do they know? They switched to "All Organic" (which often means heavy aza usage) and ended up having even worse problems, so they barely use cannabis any more. I don't see anti-cannabis people wanting to stop this type of action.
Thanks for the extra info! I'm doing a writeup to spread the info to my people. This is really almost totally unknown to most people. We need more eyes on this, and proper research studies as well.