College, Cannabis, and the Crash: Two Stories You Should Hear
Here are two stories about two very different young co-eds and their experimentation with marijuana.
These young women both started using weed (cannabis use) in an effort to quell their anxiety, and they both encountered a previously unexpected course. The first story is about my friend’s daughter, Sarah. The second story is about my own younger daughter, Jenna (not her real name). For each of these young women, they and their parents were unaware of their marijuana substance use complications until their physical and mental complications arose.
Sarah and Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome
Sarah was a bright, determined 19-year-old college junior studying biology at a competitive university in Nashville. Balancing school and the emotional distance from her family back home, she often felt overwhelmed. When her anxiety became too much to handle, a friend introduced her to marijuana, suggesting it might help her relax. At first, it worked. Her racing thoughts slowed and the tension in her chest eased. Smoking became part of her nightly routine.
By mid-semester, Sarah was smoking marijuana daily. But then came the nausea. It started subtly with queasiness in the morning, which she brushed off as stress. Then the vomiting began. Violent, unrelenting episodes that left her feeling weak and dehydrated. The first time it happened, her roommate accompanied her to the emergency room, where she was told it was likely a stomach virus. She was sent home on an oral clear fluid regimen and anti-nausea medication.
A week later, she was back. This time, her vomiting was worse. She couldn’t keep anything down, not even water. She was enroute from Dallas to Cancun with friends for spring break. Sarah called her mother from the emergency room and her mother drove from Austin to Dallas to supervise her hospital care. Again, she was treated symptomatically and discharged. Sarah’s mom attended that spring break trip with her, feeling cautious about her daughter’s condition. Still, no one asked Sarah about her cannabis use.
On her third visit to the emergency room several weeks later, her condition had deteriorated so much that she was admitted to a hospital in Nashville for dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. It was only after a thorough evaluation and a candid conversation with an internal medicine resident who asked her about her cannabis use, that someone mentioned cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) – a condition linked to chronic marijuana use. When the doctor explained it to her, Sarah was stunned. She had been using weed to help her anxiety, not realizing it was making her physically ill. Sarah left the hospital exhausted but much clearer about her situation.
Once back at school, Sarah reluctantly stopped using marijuana. Within days, her symptoms improved. The vomiting stopped and her appetite returned. It wasn’t an easy transition because her anxiety symptoms flared without her smoking marijuana, but she began psychotherapy with a psychiatrist who prescribed an antianxiety medication, and together they explored safer coping strategies for her.
Sarah had learned the hard way that what numbs anxiety (cannabis use) in the short term can sometimes sabotage you in the long run. Neither she, nor her mother, had any knowledge of the Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Sndrome prior to her developing this.
Jenna and Amotivational Syndrome
Jenna was a bright, introspective college junior majoring in psychology. From the outside, she appeared to be managing well – she was smart, energetic, and quietly ambitious. But under the surface, she had been battling anxiety and depression since her senior year of high school. At her college in the Pacific Northwest, her classes were challenging and everything became harder. She continued to take her two prescribed medications and saw the campus psychologist weekly, but her anxiety symptoms only deepened. She couldn’t shake her feelings of constant fear, a sense of dread, and uncertainty about everything.
Her roommate offered her a marijuana hit one night, saying it helped her relax. Jenna was skeptical but desperate. The first time she smoked, it felt like a warm fog settled over her brain. She felt like she could finally breathe. Her anxiety dulled and her sense of dread and sadness faded. Unfortunately, smoking marijuana (cannabis use) became her main coping mechanism.
During the summer between her junior and senior years, while at home, Jenna displayed erratic behavior, picked fights with her mother, and attended her summer internship only sporadically. She returned to school for her senior year, but Jenna continued to feel numb and exhausted all the time.
Soon, she was smoking marijuana every day, sometimes in the morning before class, and more often alone in her room at night. She told herself it was harmless, that it was better than feeling nothing at all. But then, she stopped showing up to lectures. She couldn’t focus enough to write her papers. Her grades slipped, and she hid them from her parents. She avoided everything, even going home during winter break.
By the end of the first semester of her senior year, Jenna had failed nearly all her courses. Her parents, unaware of the severity of her situation or her constant marijuana use, encouraged her to stay in school and try again. Her university placed her on probation and Jenna agreed, telling the dean and her parents that she just needed a fresh start.
But nothing changed. Her marijuana addiction had crept in quietly and taken hold. She couldn’t get through the day without smoking. Her cannabis use increased. Her motivation completely evaporated. She skipped more classes, turned in no assignments, and withdrew from friends. She failed out of college that spring.
The shock hit her hard, especially as she watched her friends prepare for graduation. The situation hit harder for her parents, who were devastated, confused, and angry. Jenna finally admitted the extent of her marijuana use and agreed to enroll in an outpatient rehab program. The group therapy and structure helped her at first. She stayed clean for a few months, but her cravings returned, and so did her feelings of extreme loneliness. She began smoking again, telling herself it was temporary.
Jenna’s story didn’t have a dramatic turnaround – not yet. But for the first time, she began to understand that what she called “just weed” had become a dependency. She learned that Cannabis Use Disorder commonly causes Amotivational Syndrome. Her lost drive, her missed chances, and her flunking-out of college in her senior year weren’t just bad luck. They were part of something bigger – a pattern she was only beginning to see clearly.
