History of Medical Cannabis in Sri Lanka (Weliange 2018)
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| Author | Wasantha Sena Weliange |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | 2018 |
| Publisher | OMICS International (conferenceseries.com) |
| Place | Osaka, Japan |
| Total pages | 1 |
| Regions documented | Sri Lanka |
|---|---|
| Preparations | Ayurvedic formulations (oils, edible medicines, ophthalmic treatments, diarrhoeal treatments) |
| Uses documented | Medicinal (Ayurveda) |
| Original held at | Journal of Neurology and Neurophysiology, Vol. 9 |
|---|
"History of Medical Cannabis in Sri Lanka" is a conference abstract by Wasantha Sena Weliange, presented at the International Conference on Cannabis and Medicinal Research held in Osaka, Japan, on 15--16 November 2018 and published in the Journal of Neurology and Neurophysiology, Volume 9.[1] The abstract catalogues approximately 20 Ayurvedic and indigenous medical texts from Sri Lanka that mention cannabis (Sinhala: කංසා, kansā; also ගංජා, ganjā), spanning from 341 AD to 1999. It is the only published survey of its kind for Sri Lanka.[2]
Author
Wasantha Sena Weliange holds a PhD in Natural Sciences, an MPhil in Zoology, a BSc in Zoology and a Diploma in Archaeology. At the time of publication he was Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. His research interests include fish ecology, river ecology, speleobiology and ethno-zoology. He received the Presidential Award for publication in peer-reviewed journals (2003) and the Professor M.T.M. Jiffry Memorial Award for Popularising Science in Sri Lanka (2014).[1] In 2017 he published a book on cannabis in Sri Lanka (title in Sinhala, not translated in the abstract).[1]
Ayurvedic texts catalogued
The abstract lists the following texts mentioning cannabis as a medicinal ingredient. Sinhala titles are given as romanised in the abstract; Sinhala script is provided where it can be reconstructed from the romanised forms with reasonable confidence and should be considered provisional pending verification against the original texts.[2]
| Date | Text | Sinhala | Subject (where specified) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 341 AD | Sarartha Sangrahaya | සාරාර්ථ සංග්රහය | Medical pharmacopoeia attributed to King Buddhadasa |
| 1232 | Yogarnavaya | යෝගාර්ණවය | |
| 1232 | Prayagorathnavaliya | ප්රයෝගරත්නාවලිය | |
| 1707 | Vaidyacintamani | වෛද්යචින්තාමණි | "Wish-fulfilling Gem of Medicine" |
| 1798 | Glossary of Synonyms of Medicinal Plants | Title may be a translation; Sinhala original unknown | |
| 1894 | Yogasekaraya | යෝගසේකරය | |
| 1900 | Kolavidiya | කොළවිදිය | |
| 1908 | Es Veda Potha | ඇස් වෙද පොත | Ophthalmic treatments |
| 1918 | Saraswathi Nigantuwa | සරස්වතී නිඝණ්ටුව | |
| 1929 | Sri Sarangadara Samhitha | ශ්රී සාරංගධර සංහිතා | |
| 1935 | Chemistry and Pharmacology of Indian and Sri Lankan Medicinal Plants | English-language title | |
| 1937 | Sri Lankan Ayurvedic Pharmacopeia | Official pharmacopoeia | |
| 1940 | Senehe Shathakam | සෙනෙහෙ ශතකම් | |
| 1954 | Thel Beheth Potha | තෙල් බෙහෙත් පොත | Medicinal oils |
| 1962 | Atheesara Chikithsawa | අතීසාර චිකිත්සාව | Diarrhoeal treatments |
| 1963 | Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants | ||
| 1969 | Purana Rahas Thel Beheth Potha | පුරාණ රහස් තෙල් බෙහෙත් පොත | "Ancient Secrets of Medicinal Oils" |
| 1970 | Desheeya Vaidya Sabdakoshaya | දේශීය වෛද්ය ශබ්දකෝෂය | Dictionary of Indigenous Medicine |
| 1980 | Go Rathnaya | ගෝ රත්නය | Treating cows |
| 1999 | Desheeya Guli Kalka Sagaraya | දේශීය ගුලි කල්ක සාගරය | Edible medicines |
The abstract also notes that in 2015, Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine Dr Rajitha Dissanayake initiated promotion of cannabis for indigenous medicine.[1]
Limitations
As a single-page conference abstract, the text provides no citations for the individual texts listed, no description of the cannabis preparations described in each text and no discussion of how the texts were identified or selected. The dates and titles are presented without bibliographic detail. Several of the texts listed, particularly the pre-colonial works, may exist only in manuscript form or in limited Sinhala-language editions. The Sinhala script renderings in the table above are reconstructed from the romanised forms in the abstract and have not been verified against the original texts.[2]
Connection to the modern Ayurvedic system
The tradition documented in these texts continues to operate through the Ayurvedic Drug Corporation at Navinna, which produces named cannabis-based medicines including Suranviduravatee (සුරංවිදුරාවටී), Madana Modakaya (මදන මෝදකය), Kameshwari Modakaya (කාමේශ්වරී මෝදකය), Buddaraja Kalkaya (බුද්ධරාජ කල්කය) and Ranahansa Rasayanaya (රණහංස රසායනය) under the provisions of the Ayurveda Act No. 31 of 1961.[3] In 2023, a total of 1,261.64 kg of cannabis was consumed for Ayurvedic medicinal purposes: 617.81 kg by the Corporation and 643.83 kg by registered doctors and drug producers.[3] For an extended discussion of how this catalogue connects to the modern legal and production system, see the accompanying blog post.[2]
See also
References
External links
- Abstract on conferenceseries.com
- "Twenty Texts, Seventeen Centuries" -- Zomia Collective blog post discussing this source
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Weliange, W.S. (2018). "History of Medical Cannabis in Sri Lanka." Journal of Neurology and Neurophysiology 9. DOI: 10.4172/2155-9562-C9-085.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Dillon, Éloïse. "Twenty Texts, Seventeen Centuries: Sri Lanka's History of Cannabis in the Literary Record." Zomia Collective (Patreon), 3 March 2026. [1]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 National Dangerous Drugs Control Board. Handbook of Drug Abuse Information: Sri Lanka 2025. Rajagiriya: NDDCB, 2025.