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I have resisted writing about medical marijuana because I used to smoke and I didn’t want to come off like one of those idiots who simply wants an excuse to legally “burn one.” Let’s be honest: most of the people getting prescriptions to smoke medical marijuana in California have no actual need for those prescriptions.

But I have changed my mind recently and here’s why: There are people who are making actual medicine out of it.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta went on CNN in a Documentary called, “Weed” (1). In it, he talked about Charlotte, a little girl who was suffering from 300 seizures a week and now has that number down to an incredible two per month with the help of a new strain of marijuana called cannabidiol (2)...

Lewis Reynolds is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served his country for thirty years, fighting in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. He has been married for 47 years and is 85 years old. He does not, however, have any children because he was forcibly and legally sterilized under Virginia’s Eugenical Sterilization Act (1).

Mr. Reynolds was not born epileptic. A rock hit him in the head when he was nine and he became a seizure patient. As a result, he was sterilized to stop “the propagation of their kind (2).” Sterilized, I might add, without his knowledge.

Virginia’s Eugenical Sterilization Act was passed in 1924, making it legal to forcibly sterilize any “mental defective” for the “the welfare of society (3).” The law was cemented in the famous “Buck v...

I was recently banned from posting on Reddit. I am not sure exactly what I did to get banned (although it was insinuated that my blog about “Breast Cancer Month” did not go down well with some people.) Bear in mind, this is a website that is fond of holocaust deniers, sexists and racists. But me? I am not allowed to post anything there anymore. Not even a comment on someone else’s thread. Not even a simple “Hey that was great.” My emails to moderators go unanswered.

My website still seems to be relatively popular on Reddit — for an epilepsy website. As you might expect, epilepsy is not a particularly “big market.” But if you go to r/epilepsy, “FallingDownFunny” is the website that gets the most attention. But that doesn’t seem to matter to the folks who run Reddit...

On March 23, 2004 in Michigan (1), Ms. R was driving home from visiting her daughter. She did not feel well. She had had two seizures that morning and another while visiting. While she probably should not have gotten behind the wheel of her car, it was only two miles to her house and she decided to drive home anyway.

At about 6:30 pm, Officer W saw her car swerve and he pulled around to pursue her. He signaled but she did not stop. He followed her for several blocks until she pulled over. As he approached her car, Ms. R suddenly drove away. Officer W got back into his car and followed her, this time joined by another police car. The two police cars boxed Ms. R in and her car was forced to stop.

The two officers from the second car approached the vehicle with guns drawn...

I just watched an episode of the television show “House.” A patient started having a seizure and a character named Dr. Chase yelled, “Hold him down.” I thought, “Really? That’s what you would do? And you’re supposed to be a doctor?” I am not a doctor. Nor do I play one on TV. But as an epileptic, I know you do not hold down a patient having a seizure, even on a TV show.

I am willing to suspend a little disbelief here for the purposes of enjoying the show. I certainly understand that TV characters and stories need to be interesting or the show gets boring. Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) has to be a little insane to make people watch the show. Even ‘Reality TV’ is not reality...

Let me start by saying that breast cancer is a horrible disease and I feel badly for anyone who has it or gets it. I wrote that headline to get your attention. But I do have a reason for starting to turn on “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” and I know I am not alone.

I have epilepsy. I have been trying to promote epilepsy awareness for some time and it often feels like an uphill battle. Not only do people not really seem to care about epilepsy, but quite the opposite: many seem to have something against it.

I am not going to go into the recent story of Coach Jerry Kill, the University of Minnesota football coach who had a seizure during a game and was rewarded with calls for his removal...

I am a stand-up comedian. It has been my full-time occupation since 1991. True, I am not rich or famous but I have paid my bills and eaten Taco Bell. I have made a reasonable living. And I know my way around a joke.

The point I am so slowly getting to here is that I have had a hard time writing jokes about epilepsy. The subject has eluded me. I’ve written jokes that I knew were pretty funny but when I tried them out onstage I could not figure out why they did not get any laughs. I reworked them. Nothing. It took me years to figure out why those jokes were not happening and when I finally figured out what the problem was I was not happy with the answer.

I have come up with two basic reasons why the subject is not a good choice for me onstage...

Several people sent me articles last week about a seizure that University of Minnesota Football Coach Jerry Kill suffered while the Golden Gophers were playing Western Illinois University.  It was the third time he had suffered a seizure during a game as head coach of the program in three years.  As a result of that episode he missed the second half of that game after being taken to the hospital.

Usually I would not have paid all that much attention to this story.  First of all, I am not that much of a sports fan anymore.  I found the story interesting from the seizure angle, but then a person having a seizure only holds so much interest for me...

I had a seizure around some people who don’t know me very well.  Naturally, they were incredibly uncomfortable around me for the next several days; trying to say things that were supportive or interesting or whatever.

A young woman walked up to me.  She was obviously nervous.  “So,” she said, “how was your seizure?”  The minute the words sunk into her head, and before I had a chance to say anything, she turned and walked away.

People have no idea how to deal with us.  Do you know whose fault that is?  Ours.  It has been easier for us to live in secret for as long as possible rather than let people know about us.  As a result, people do not understand who and what we are.  Those people who say stupid things to us usually mean well...

I started jogging recently.

I should say that I started jogging “again.”  Years ago I ran but I had to stop because I started having seizures when I ran.  I guess I forgot that because when I started to run this time I started to have seizures again.

There are so many things in my life that I have given up because of seizures.  Things from my life that I once enjoyed or used that are no longer a part of my life.  Things that I avoid because they are now and forever associated with a seizure.

I am a big fan of “The Simpsons” and “Futurama.”  I had a particularly bad seizure while watching an episode of Futurama.  There was a musical number during that episode.  I have heard the song several times since then.  It totally triggers a memory of that seizure...