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A peculiar term found its way onto the internet over the weekend, one that sent Twitter users into a total frenzy.
From afar, the word “scromiting” looks an awful lot like a typo, but there’s no misspelling here and “scromiting” was in fact used in an article that went viral for describing a very real medical condition.
The article in question comes from Eve Simmons, deputy health editor of Mail on Sunday. It is about the rise of cannabis use in California and the adverse effects it’s having on people who use it regularly.
Simmons opens the article by describing cannabis as a class B drug in the U.K. Out the gate, her stance on the matter is clear, and she pulls no punches in describing the very California-like way cannabis is used in metropolitan cities like Los Angeles. She goes on to describe her experience shopping in pristine wellness stores that sell high-grade cannabis; stores that package their product with neat, almost luxurious, presentation.
California is of course the first of many states in the United States that legalized cannabis. The popularity and de-stigmatization of the drug happened slowly over time as more and more research came out in support of the drug’s benefit in aiding cancer patients with pain management.
However, in her Mail on Sunday article, Simmons reports on the negative effects of cannabis use, returning to the age-old ideology that it is a gateway drug to harder substances such as cocaine, oxycodone, methadone.
“Regular use of quantities above ten per cent are linked to a higher risk of addiction, violent behaviour and a newly recognised condition called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, or ‘scromiting’.”
Simmons shared the article on her Twitter account. But it was her subsequent Tweet that blew up like a billowing cloud of marijuana smoke.
What is ‘scromiting?’
The word “scromiting” describes a very real medical condition in which a person screams and vomits for extended periods of time and without the aid of a cure. While the word indeed sounds funny, it actually describes a medical condition called Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome.
That being said, Twitter users took the term “scromiting” and immediately ran with it, with thousands of people offering their own definition of what “scromiting” means. One user admits the word sounds scary, but might be worth the chronic marijuana use if it leads to double albums and a hit single.
Another user warned their fellow tweeters about what could come next if they don’t treat their “scromit” soon enough.
And of course, one user moonlighting as the voice of reason reminded people this is no laughing matter.
All that being said, “scromiting” is a real condition, and this user was quick to point that out, even if the word itself might not be.
It seems what started as an innocuous article about the potential consequences of frequent marijuana use turned into a Twitter hailstorm of absurd puns and dad jokes. As one Twitter user so accurately summed up – you never know what you’ll find on Twitter so it’s best not to log off.