The epilepsy community is divided on the issue. The Epilepsy Foundation, which represents patients and their families, said in late February that it backs efforts to legalize medical marijuana for use in pediatric epilepsy patients. But the American Epilepsy Society, which represents physicians and other professionals working in the field of epilepsy, says the treatment “may not be advisable due to lack of information on safety and efficacy.”
Sharon Levy, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on substance abuse, said she’s a strong proponent of studying and developing medications from the active ingredients in marijuana. But she does not support the idea of parents choosing the plant they think would be best, making their own oral preparations and guessing at proper dosage without knowing long-term side effects.