I read that, and I've read all the negativity about amygdalin, which is plentiful, as it is with almost all natural remedies/preventatives which remove the necessity of reliance on patented synthetic drugs.
There actually is plenty of evidence that laetrile does have a positive effect on cancer when combined with other treatments. It is also known that getting laetrile via IV does not cause cyanide poisoning because it bypasses the GI system, and is less toxic than chemo, as I pointed out in a comment above.
However, the point of this article is to highlight how, regardless of how you feel about amygdalin, it is not the job of our federal government to decide what natural substances we can and cannot ingest - I feel the same about marijuana, and all the natural hallucinogens like mushrooms and peyote. In my opinion, people need to have the right and discernment to decide what is best for them individually - an no one will ever convince me that the federal crusade against laetrile has been fueled by their concern for our well-being.
Thank you for your comment and dropping a relevant Steemit link!
I agree with you in that regard.
Nonetheless, I have to default to skepticism whenever I encounter supposed miracle cures. And this one, ingested orally, seems particularly potentially dangerous.
I don't believe I insinuated it was a "miracle cure", not even close.
And I personally see nothing wrong with people being informed of possible preventatives, as I hardly believe that eating the seeds of the fruit you're eating normally is going to be harmful - nor do I believe that eating apricot or bitter almond kernels (which are eaten all over the world) is dangerous in sensible quantities. We evolved eating those seeds.
Anything consumed in excess is no bueno. A good example of that would be refined sugar - we all know the dangers of consuming it in large quantities (and more research is consistently showing this to be true), but it's still acceptable for individuals to do so.
Also, I personally believe that one's view on a substance being "dangerous" changes drastically when they're actually facing cancer head-on. Chemo is dangerous, radiation therapy is dangerous, even surgical procedures are dangerous. And people have the right to know that there are alternative options and clinics in other parts of the world where they can go to explore those options.