Sri Lanka: Ministry of Indigenous Medicine wants to grow
cannabis for medical purposes

Source: REUTERS

25 September 2008

Facing a lack of fresh cannabis for use in traditional Ayurvedic
medical preparations, the Ministry of Indigenous Medicine this
month announced a plan to grow 4,000 kg a year of cannabis. The
ministry wants to be excepted from laws that have made cannabis
illegal in Sri Lanka. “We are interested in getting some approval to
grow some cannabis with government sponsorship, but there must
be controls. It is under study,” Asoka Malimage from the Ministry,
said.

Ayurveda is a traditional medical system which makes wide use
of herbs and natural remedies. In Sri Lanka, ayurveda
practitioners outnumber Western-trained doctors. Fresh cannabis
fried in ghee, a form of clarified butter, is used in about 18
different traditional medicines for treating a wide variety of
ailments, Malimage said. Currently, cannabis seized by the police
is used. But this cannabis is old and dried out, said Dr. Dayangani
Senasekara, head of the state-run Bandaranaike Memorial
Ayurvedic Research Institute in Colombo. The institute is making
preparations that use cannabis to treat diabetes, rheumatoid
arthritis and other diseases.

Republish