Dispensing narcotics

5-5-2005 | IslamWeb

Question:

I was wondering what is the Fatwa with regard to the duties of a pharmacy technician or even a pharmacist having to deal with preparing and dispensing (Naracs) or narcotic drugs to patient. Like Morphine, codeine, oxycodine, and the like. Is it Haraam in Islam according to Quran and Sunnah to work as a pharmacist or pharmacy technician?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

We have already issued Fatwa: 87324 about the ruling of administering morphine to patients. As regards codeine and oxycodeine, after asking the specialists in the field it became clear to us that it is used for the same purpose as morphine but they are relatively less anaesthetic than morphine, so the same ruling, as that for morphine, applies to them.

With regard to the ruling of producing such drugs, if it is permissible to use them in case of necessity, then producing them is also permissible. Moreover, it is evident that such drugs are very necessary in medicine, as we were informed by one of the specialists in the field, and that it is not possible to do away without them. It is not possible to overcome the pain in some diseases like angina pectoris and anaesthesia in surgical operations except with such medicines, so this is a necessity. Ruling that it is forbidden to produce such medicines will cause great hardship to patients. Indeed, one of the established rules in Islamic jurisprudence is that hardship necessitates easiness as Allaah says (which means): {And has not laid upon you in religion any hardship.}[Quran 22:78]. Moreover, the use of these medicines is limited as they are not used for every patient.

Allaah knows best.