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WASHINGTON — The desperate search for a cancer cure has produced a bootleg business in Laetrile, an amber-colored ex tract of apricot pits, which the federal government has banned as a quack medicine. The soaring demand has attracted profi teers seeking to line their pockets by pan dering to anguished cancer victims. Ac cording to a confidential House report, Lae trile now has a higher mark-up than heroin. Of all the Laetrile bootleggers, the most worrisome is a band of anarchists who call themselves Posse Commitatus (Latin for “Power of the County’). They don’t recog nize the federal government, refuse to po taxes and, in moments of high passion, ad vocate the assassination of federal officials. Some of the more demonstrative have already assaulted tax collectors and are on the run from police warrants. These vigilantes run a laetrile factory in Manitowoc, Wis. The workers wear pistols strapped to their belts in open view. Two were arrested for refusing entry to federal inspectors. The authorities, nevertheless, confiscated 12 tons of apricot kernels and 100,000 un filled drug capsules. Federal investigators estimate the plant could supply enough Lae trile for 6,000 people a day. Even more disturbing, the Posse members are using their illegal Laetrile profits to purchase weapons. They have stockpiled large caches, according to government sources, of guns and ammunition. A confidential memo, prepared for Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., claims that other profiteers are also cashing in on the con troversial cancer drug. ‘Several of the Lae trile proponents have been involved in various stock swindles,’’ the memo charges. “Their interest in haetrile is not humani tarian.”’ One of these entrepreneurs is Andrew McNaughton, a former arms merchant, who promotes drugs around the world. McNaughton acknowledged to us that he has been convicted of a stock swindle in Canada but insisted he is innocent. The case is now under review. Another Laetrile promoter is Ernest Krebs Jr., the son of the man who dis covered the drug in 1950. Krebs Jr. was convicted in 1961 of illegally promoting another drug, Vitamin B-15, to improve the performance of race horses. Krebs told us he did not promote the vitamin and insisted that ‘neither my father nor myself have received one cent from Laetrile.’ The House memo cites the scientific evidence against Laetrile, noting that “purity and safety may vary.”’ Substances sold on the black market for huge profits may not be pure Laetrile, it adds. Yet despite the warnings of the white coated experts, thousands of cancer suf ferers continue to turn to Laetrile as some sort of mystical cure. The congressional analysts concede that there are arguments in favor of Laetrile. They acknowledge that cancer victims have little to lose and perhaps should be allowed to take whatever medication they want. However, “patients may forego orthodox treatment and take Laetrile until their cancer is too advanced to treat,’’ the memo warns. Rep. Waxman, who is fighting its legalization in California, told us he is trying to save cancer patients from becoming “victims of quackery.” The first real victim, tragically, was 10- month-old Elizabeth Hankin of Attica, N. Y., who died of cyanide poisoning after taking an overdose of her father’s Laetrile pills. She has become the first casualty in a bitter war between the medical establishment and Laetrile advocates. KOREAN SMUGGLING — Last October, North Korean diplomats were kicked out of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland for running a blatant black market operation. We have now learned from government sources that the North Koreans still operate smuggling rings in many of the 90 countries with which they have formal relations. They are buying liquor and cigarettes tax-free and then peddling them on the black market. The smuggling is sanctioned by Pyongyang, according to our sources, as a means of financing the foreign missions. It is also likely that the North Koreans are using some of their black market profits to offset their foreign debts. Pyongyang has been unable to meet its payments on about $1.4 billion in loans from West Germany, France, England and Japan. Five separate loan agreements have been rescheduled this year alone, and North Korea has been unable to arrange a new loan since 1975. In the earlier escapades, the North Korean used their diplomatic privileges to buy duty-free goods in East Germany. Then they crossed a ferry into Denmark and Sweden, peddling their illicit products in small towns and hamlets. They are now more cautious but still en gage in massive smuggling, according to our sources. WHO’S NEWS—White House energy chief James Schlesinger is upset over the bad press he has received. Reporters have griped that Schlesinger is inaccessible and that calls to his office are seldom returned. Schlesinger learned of the complaints and called his press aides on the carpet. The result, his office has suddenly turned cooperative. (United Feature Syndicate, Inc.)
Newspaper Details
Idaho Falls Post Register
Idaho Falls, Idaho, US
Thu, Jun 30, 1977
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Nicol M.
USA 03 Jun 2026
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Idaho Falls Post Register
