Medical use of Cannabis in Islamic Law Perspective

Abstract

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa indica) has been used as a kind of herb for long time. At present Thailand has redefined and legalized the medical use of cannabis with the supporting evident from both traditional and conventional sciences. The terms of use of cannabis is to relieve chronic pain and multiple sclerosis.

Despite supporting research of the remedial properties of the cannabis, the Islamic Law scholars still have diverse opinion on the use of narcotic or the mixture of addictive substance for medical purpose.  

The research found that the majority group of the Islamic Law scholar opines that the practice is permissible due to the condition that there is unavailable effective alternative or other treatment options are limited due to expensiveness and difficulty.    

The application of cannabis or its extraction is a kind of innovation for the medical treatments. However, the use of the product should be limited in the case that the normal treatment is not effective or the cure leads to serious side effects. In addition, the practice needs to observe the Shariáh rule that it has to perform under the medical expert supervision, no better alternative available, and the using amount is subject to necessity.