The Department of Ayurveda said that the Police Department can act according to the common law of the country in any instances of the illegal possession of Ayurvedic drugs like the 'madana modakaya’ and the ‘kameshwari rasayanaya’ without fulfilling the necessary requirements.
Last week, several associations consisting of Ayurveda doctors claimed that their profession has been endangered by the raids and arrests conducted under the ongoing ‘Yukthiya’ (Justice) operation, where certain Ayurveda medicines, which are also used as recreational drugs, were taken into custody. Those Ayurveda doctors urged the Police not to arrest people who keep these medicines for various health-related purposes and further noted that considering these medicines as recreational drugs would degrade their profession. The particular group of Ayurveda practitioners claimed that these arrests violated their human rights at a time when almost all the said medicines are recognised by the Ayurveda Act.
Against this backdrop, speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (14), the Ayurveda Commissioner General (CG) Dr. Dammika Abeygunawardana said that the Police has no barriers in exercising the law if any of the medicines like the ‘madana modakaya’, the ‘kameshwari rasayanaya’ and cannabis are kept in someone's possession without fulfilling the requirements included in the Ayurveda Act.
“The issues raised by the Ayurveda community have some validity. But, according to the law, only registered institutions and pharmacies can keep those medicines in their possession. No one can buy these medicines without a prescription. On the other hand, no one can issue these medicines without a prescription. The prevailing law doesn't permit anyone to misuse or illegally possess these medicines because these medicines could be used as alternatives for many other purposes,” he said.
Speaking further, he noted that the illegal possession of these medicines could be an offence under several legislations and that therefore, the law enforcement authorities could act accordingly.