David Krumholtz “almost died” after suffering an extreme reaction to smoking pot.
The “Santa Clause” star told Page Six exclusively that he started using marijuana again after “a long break” and soon became “a daily smoker,” which led him to develop a rare condition called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS).
“It’s rare, [but] it’s becoming more and more prevalent yearly — like, numbers are doubling every year,” he shared with us at the Cinema Society screening of “Riff Raff” on Wednesday.
CHS “leads to repeated and severe bouts of vomiting,” according to Cedars-Sinai, which notes that the condition “only occurs in daily long-term users of marijuana.”
“Essentially, they messed up weed,” Krumholtz opined. “They made it too strong, and they don’t know why it’s happening. There’s a lot of theories.”
The “Oppenheimer” actor, 46, explained that the brain has “cannabinoid receptors” and “you can blow out the receptors, like blowing out an engine, making it that every time you smoke pot — not every time, but if you smoke it enough — you get wildly, dangerously nauseous.”
Krumholtz described the side effect as “hyper-nausea.”
“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I almost died a couple of times,” he told Page Six, asserting that he was “serious.”
“I have unpaid emergency room bills up the wazoo. It’s really bad, It’s really dangerous. It’s as serious as a heart attack. It’s horrifying for those that suffer from it.”
The “Numb3rs” alum believes “no one talks about” the dangers of weed “because it’s the friendly drug, it’s the drug that doesn’t kill you.”
However, he cautioned, “It’s a very addictive drug … and now that it’s super strong, it’s really addictive.”
Krumholtz, who no longer smokes pot, would like the public to be made aware of CHS, which can be fatal, according to the peer-reviewed Journal of Forensic Sciences.
“I would love to see every legal cannabis store be required to have a pamphlet,” the SAG Award nominee, who will next appear in Seth Rogen’s series “The Studio,” suggested. “An optional pamphlet that says, ‘Hey, if you start feeling nauseous, stop because there is nothing that works except stopping.’”
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