This Week: On the Frontier of Marijuana Treatment for Epilepsy; How Paul Ryan Took 3 Different Positions on Medical Marijuana in 1 Weekend; Pepperdine University Denies Student Internship at Marijuana Policy Project; Federal Court Will Review Cannabis’s Class I Status; Would Romney Be Worse Than Obama for Medical Marijuana?; How Pot Helps Parenting; and more.

MEDICAL/HEALTH

On the Frontier of Marijuana Treatment for Epilepsy –  A federal crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries threatens a father’s search for cannabidiol to ease his son’s seizures from Dravet syndrome.

LEGAL/POLITICAL

How Paul Ryan Took 3 Different Positions on Medical Marijuana in 1 Weekend — His voting record is against it, then he said he’s for states rights on the issue, now he’s against it again.

Federal Court Will Review Cannabis’s Class I Status — For the first time since 1994, the question of medical marijuana will go before a federal court. The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has agreed to hear a lawsuit challenging the DEA’s classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no medical value. The ten-year-old suit, brought by Americans for Safe Access, will present scientific evidence on marijuana’s therapeutic properties.

Pepperdine University Denies Student Internship at Marijuana Policy Project — The deans of Seaver College internship program at Pepperdine University last week officially refused to approve the application of sophomore political science major Victoria Stanzione to intern at the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), a national non-profit organization dedicated to reforming marijuana laws. Associate Dean Michael Feltner said “the internship is not aligned with the mission and purpose of Pepperdine University and I cannot approve the internship for academic credit.”

Would Romney Be Worse Than Obama for Medical Marijuana? –  Commentary from Scott Morgan: “President Obama has been taking a lot of well-deserved heat for his disjointed and disappointing approach to medical marijuana. Of course, with an election approaching, Obama supporters are struggling to explain why the many Americans who care deeply about this issue should support this president following his badly broken promises and recent false statements. An argument I’ve been hearing a lot is that Mitt Romney would be even more of a monster when it comes to medical marijuana policy.  But why would anyone assume that? Because he’s a Republican? Obama’s been worse on this issue than George W. Bush ever was, so what’s to say he wouldn’t be worse than Romney too?”

LIFESTYLE

7 Steps to Smoke Pot and Never Get Caught – Russ Belville gives practical advice to marijuana smokers while educating on the inequality and absurdity of the drug war at the same time.

How Pot Helps Parenting — One father’s thoughtful perspective.