Military warns about vaping oils after soldiers fall ill

Authorities said the cases were discovered during the first week in January, and the soldiers and Marines who sought treatment at Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg and the Naval Medical Center at Camp Lejeune complained of a variety of symptoms, including anxiety, irritability, combativeness and seizures.

The U.S. Army Medical Command said the common denominator for all of the patients was that they had all smoked vapor oils that contained a substance known as cannabidiol, or CBD, which is found naturally in the seeds, stalk and flowers of cannabis plants.

Their symptoms were reported to the North Carolina Poison Control Center.

Col. Mark Reynolds of the U.S. Army Medical Command said North Carolina officials learned about similarities after the Utah Poison Control Center received cases of people suffering similar symptoms after coming in contact with CBD.

"Through the poison control center, they learned of those cases which had been reported through the Utah Poison Control Center," Reynolds said.

Military officials said pure CBD oil has not been linked to any adverse health effects, but health issues have resulted in people who used oils mixed with synthetic cannabinoids or consumed vaping products that contained more toxic ingredients instead of or in addition to the CBD oil.

CBDs are not illegal, but they are not regulated by the federal government.

According to the North Carolina Divisions of Alcohol Law Enforcement, some vaping products have been tested and found to contain tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the substance in marijuana that provides the euphoric feeling to those who use it.

Israel Morrow, a special agent, said the oils can be dangerous.

"When you're putting a vapor liquid or juice inside of a heating element and heating it up (and) you don't know what chemicals are inside of the liquids that are there, so yes, it is a concern to everyone," he said.

Reynolds sent out the alert from the U.S. Army Medical Command: "We're warning soldiers and anyone within the DOD (that) since these oils are unregulated and we cannot tell exactly what's in them, we're advising not to use the oils that you cannot verify the content."

Military personnel aren't the only ones who should be concerned.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the smoking oils have become popular with teenagers who are using e-cigarettes or other products to smoke the vapor oils.

One of the possible symptoms for smoking CBD oils is seizures, which may have resulted in significant neurologic damage in one soldier. Falls or accidents resulting from seizures are blamed for the deaths of two Marines. Four additional public cases have been reported in North Carolina, and 33 cases have been reported in Utah.