Is it permissible to use marijuana for the treatment of muscular dystrophy and its accompanying severe pain, especially if sedatives are ineffective and the pharmaceutical alternative has serious side effects?

Marijuana is a narcotic drug, a powder from the cannabis plant, or hashish. It contains many chemical compounds that cause short- and long-term effects. The use of marijuana or other narcotic substances to alleviate pain is permissible under certain conditions: that the need reaches the level of necessity, that a trusted physician testifies to its benefit, that its use is limited to the extent that the necessity is met, that it is the only prescribed treatment, and that it does not cause harm greater than the harm for which it was used. Therefore, narcotic substances are prohibited except for prescribed medical treatment, and in the quantities determined by physicians.