There were two marijuana stories in the New York Times Science section April 10. Is that what they call a double scoop?
| Caryn Rabin’s piece, “Painfully Sick From Marijuana,” seems to exaggerate the incidence of cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome. Rabin quotes NORML’s Paul Armentano talking sense about the extent of the problem, but most of her sources were sounding a loud alarm. | ||
| Rabin: “A new study, based on interviews with 2,127 adult emergency room patients under 50 at Bellevue, a large public hospital in New York City, found that of the 155 patients who said they smoked marijuana late least 20 days a month, 51 heavy users said they had during the past six months experienced nausea and vomiting that were specifically relieved by hot showers.” |
That’s one in three! Does not compute.
The usually reliable Nicholas Bakalar gave us “Marijuana and Fatal Car Crashes,” a timely reminder that a spate of crashes occurs every April 20. Bakalar cites a study in JAMA Internal Medicine documenting “a significant increase in fatal car wrecks after the ‘4/20’ party ends.” I wonder how the number of wrecks compares to St. Patrick’s Day. —Fred Gardner
