Epilepsy and Cannabis

Ilo Leppik, MD, has more than four decades of experience caring for patients with epilepsy. During his career, Leppik has published more than 240 peer-reviewed research articles on epilepsy and has co-authored numerous books on the subject. He has dedicated his career to searching for ways to improve treatment for seizures that afflict those with epilepsy. “My passion is to find a better treatment for this condition,” the physician and University of Minnesota pharmacy professor said of his patients’ debilitating - and in some cases, life-threatening - uncontrolled seizures.

In his quest, he has come to believe in the healing power of cannabis for epilepsy, playing a key role in getting Minnesota’s medical marijuana law passed in 2014. Several of his patients now regularly take a cannabis pill to manage their symptoms related to epilepsy.

Dr. Leppik will share an update with the Club on the current state of epilepsy and cannabis.