In 2018, after 23 years as a Navy SEAL, Jon Dalton retired and turned his attention to a new struggle: living with depression and anxiety.

For decades, the federal government considered marijuana as dangerous a drug as heroin. That changed Thursday when the acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanchard signed an order reclassifying state-licensed cannabis products from schedule I to a far less regulated schedule III. The order does not legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use under federal law, but it does ease some barriers to cannabis research. And that came as very good news for a pair of UNLV scientists.

Researchers at UNLV are trying to determine if a kitchen spice could become a way to treat seizures.

Within the white, clinical walls of a nondescript UNLV lab, a small team of neuroscientists are working on a project with potentially big implications for children suffering from seizures.

Dr. Dustin Hines, professor of neuroscience at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), US, and study co-author Rochelle Hines, professor of psychology, discuss a breakthrough in seizure therapy using compounds derived from caraway seeds. By altering the shape of the seed’s main chemical component, researchers created a new class of THC-free “CBD-like” therapies that showed seizure-reducing effects and promoted healthier brain cell development in preclinical trials, potentially offering safer alternatives to current drug-resistant therapies.

While many people may consider psychedelics to be solely a recreational drug, research indicates that this drug class can be helpful in treating mental health issues such as depression and addiction.

Seizures are far more common than most people realize. Epilepsy affects about one percent of the population, making it one of the most prevalent neurological disorders worldwide. Seizures can appear at any moment in life, arising from genetic conditions, traumatic brain injuries, infections, metabolic disorders, or sometimes even no identifiable cause at all.

A possible “molecular breakthrough” is happening in the Las Vegas valley. A group of UNLV students and neuroscientists has found a way to take something as common as caraway, also known as meridian fennel, and transform it into a new class of CBD-like compounds that could potentially help children who suffer from severe seizure disorders.