This comes from the WeedPress Facebook page after a SteemIt article was posted that warned that the result of the “Cannabis Hyperemis Syndrome” (flash in the pan) scare could be a result of neem oil, which is used by cannabis growers because it’s organic but is taken into the plant during flower cycle. Below is our reader’s comment followed by the original post.
“This would be awesome if someone would do some real science to back it up.
“It’s an interesting observation, but it’s not warranted based on the toxicology data that I could find on neem oil. It’s an interesting observation though and worthy of further research.
“What makes them rule out something like aflatoxin? It seems much more likely to produce these symptoms in the doses retained in the buds if someone got a moldy batch.
“I’m a microbiologist by training, not a toxicologist, so take it for what it’s worth. It’s possible it could be neem oil if there were a reason that a percent of people are particularly sensitive, but most of the neem oil poisoning case reports are from ingestion of large amounts of the actual oil. No LD50 could be established in rats according to another study.”
— WeedPress reader comment
Below is the original post from SteemIt:
“Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome” (CHS) is actually Azadirachtin (neem) poisoning!
Azadirachtin (C35H44O16) is the active compound in the oil from the neem plant.
(from Wikipedia)Farmers have been wielding neem oil against fungal and insect pests for centuries. When done properly, very little azadirachtin ends up in the food, because most plants can’t take it up through their roots.
Cannabis is one of the best phytoremediators known – when grown in contaminated soil, it “cleans” the soil by uptaking heavy metals and other toxins. So it DOES uptake azadirachtin, especially during vegetative stage, then deposits it with resins into the flowers, which may be dried for smoking or made into concentrates.
(photo by DRutter)Many (even organic) growers don’t know this, and continue to use neem oil with cannabis. Yes, it’s organic, but organic doesn’t mean safe. Azadirachtin is definitely poisonous. As much as HALF of all cannabis, including in dispensaries, is contaminated to some degree with azadirachtin!
What Azadirachtin does to Humans
The early symptoms of azadirachtin toxicity are intense nausea, cyclic vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, muscle tension, fatigue, and dehydration. Symptoms can be reduced with Benadryl (diphenhydramine) or a hot shower/bath. Those who are particularly sensitive to azadirachtin, those who are otherwise weakened or immunocompromised, and those who get the highest doses get the sickest. If levels get high enough, stupor, seizures, and organ damage result.
When the patient abstains from cannabis, or switches to a clean source (grown without azadirachtin), symptoms gradually clear up.
Full article: Click here to read about cannabis hyperemesis syndrome on SteemIt
WeedPress: The Paper Trail 
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