Bitter Almonds: Banned Because They Cure Cancer?

By: Alexandria Addesso

Carcinogens, substances that are capable of causing cancer in living tissue, seem to be everywhere. Processed foods, microwaves, and plastic goods are just a few of the many, many everyday items that can cause cancer. With known carcinogens becoming more apparent in the collective societal consciousness, alternative treatments and natural preventative measures have become more popular.

Bitter almonds are known to contain vitamin B17. B17 is a glycoside nutrient used by alternative medical practitioners in cancer prevention, and some have even claimed that it is a cure for cancer yet no medical studies have backed up that claim. The commercial sales of bitter almonds have been illegal since 1995. The commercial sale of the supplement form of B17 has been banned by the FDA since the 1980s.



Recently there has been a swarm of controversy around the ban of the commercial sale of bitter almonds, with some coming to the inaccurate conclusion that the use of bitter almonds in any fashion is illegal in the United States. This has caused many conspiracy theories to form as to why the government would make such a ban on a natural substance that could combat cancer.

Is the government simply making laws to keep its citizens ill and fully reliant on drugs made by big pharmaceutical corporations? Although that statement may not be totally incorrect, there is another reason why the commercial sale bitter almonds and most forms of B17 in general iare banned. The extract of B17, laetrile, contains prussic acid which is a chemical precursor for cyanide. Yet other natural foods also contain benign forms of prussic acid such as apple seeds.



Human beings have been eating bitter almonds for thousands of years with little to no documented reports of poisoning. Yet lawmakers cite that the commercial sales of bitter almonds are banned due to a possible link to the commercial sale and production of cyanide. Currently possession and the consumption of bitter almonds is not illegal. Bitter almond trees grow wildly in the US and cooks are allowed to farm small quantities of bitter almonds for specific dishes and pastes.

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Cannabis: A Cure For Epilepsy?

By: Alexandria Addesso

Although cannabis has been known for its therapeutic and medicinal functions for thousands of years, the United States seems to be slow to the learning curve. In a previous New Mind Journal article, the benefits of marijuana treatment for cancer were discussed, this article will focus on the use of the plant for another devastating disorder. Epilepsy.

Epilepsy is defined as a disorder in which nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed, thus causing seizures. A person suffering from epilepsy is usually treated with a variety of drugs, but not all forms of epilepsy can be treated with such pharmaceutical drugs thus leaving their seizures uncontrollable.

Individuals that endure such untreatable seizures are often children suffering from pediatric epilepsy disorders, such as Doose, Lennox-Gastaut, and Dravet syndromes. Since marijuana began being legalized for medicinal use, floods of stories have been told of parents who have risked it all and even relocated so that their children can legally use cannabis oil to treat their epilepsy and have a normal life.



What is most commonly prescribed is a treatment called Charlotte’s Web, named after a young girl suffering from Dravet syndrome to the point that her multiple seizures that lasted for hours at a time were causing serious cognitive problems as well as delaying her developmental growth. Her name was Charlotte Figi.

Charlotte’s Web is cannabis oil extracted from a strain that is high in Cannabidiol (CBD) and low in Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is the chemical that gets people “high”.

“The biggest misconception about treating a child-like little Charlotte is most people think that we're getting her high, most people think she's getting stoned," Josh Stanley, one of the owners of the dispensary that originally grew this strain.



Yet this treatment is still considered controversial. The Epilepsy Foundation does not endorse nor discourage this treatment, but instead states that each individual should follow their physician's recommendations in congruence with the law.

The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is currently engaging in a study on Dravet with epilepsy patients who have tried Charlotte's Web. The genetics of the subjects who have seen a drastic change after using Charlotte’s Web will be compared with those who have not. The findings could be highly significant for the use of the treatment. Only time will tell.

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Cannabis: A Cure For Cancer?

By: Alexandria Addesso

Cannabis has been utilized for medical purposes for thousands of years. Yet in many counties throughout the world it is still viewed as an illegal drug. In the United States cannabis on the federal level is listed as a Schedule 1 drug, classifying it as having “high potential for abuse and no known medical use,” even though it is legal for medicinal use in 25 states and recreational use in four states plus Washington DC.

While marijuana has been known to cure many illnesses from insomnia to depression to pms, one of its most significant uses in a treatment being studied for quite some time is with cancer. According to cancer.gov, tests have shown that the use of cannabinoid oils helped lessen or eliminate nausea, loss of appetite, and pain management better than more conventional pharmaceutical drugs. Oncologists are more likely to recommend or prescribe cannabis to their patients than any other types of physicians, but usually always in conjunction with more “conventional” treatments.



But the real question that needs to be answered is whether or not cannabis can be used to treat and cure cancer itself and not just it’s side effects? Cannabinoids are known to possess antitumor properties and be successful in limiting inflammation, cell proliferation, and cell survival. Yet not all cannabinoids come from the marijuana plant, there are also types that come from the human endorphin system as well synthetically made cannabinoids. Cannabidiol (CBD) makes up 40 percent of the cannabinoids extracted from the cannabis plant and is known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety properties. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the chemical in cannabis that, according to cancer.gov, is effective in shrinking tumors. Yet most if not all studies suggest that treatment for cancer using marijuana should be paired with other treatments such as chemotherapy to be most effective.



Even though studies have yet to deem cannabis as the cure-all for cancer, it has definitely been shown to be very effective. So why isn’t it legal for cancer treatment across the board? Pharmaceutical companies have too much to lose on patents on cancer drugs that have long been on the market. Being that there is still such a surging black market for cannabis, even in the extremely pure and medically useful distilled oil form, capitalism has too much to lose. Even those vendors in the cannabis industry legally pose a threat to big pharm being that most are locally owned business.

The bottom-line is, greed kills.

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