KAYTS, Sri Lanka: A court released a Jaffna bus driver on bail on Tuesday. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of cannabis, and his lawyer told the court that the drug detected in his system came from Ayurvedic medicine he had been taking.
The driver was arrested last Friday while operating a passenger bus from Jaffna to Kayts. The police produced him before the Kayts Magistrate’s Court on Saturday, and the court remanded him until Tuesday.
When the case was taken up on Tuesday, the driver’s lawyer told the court that his client had not used drugs. He said the driver was undergoing Ayurvedic treatment, which would explain why the test showed signs of drug use. In support of the bail application, the lawyer submitted a medical report, a confirmation letter from the Ayurvedic physician and the medicines the driver had been taking.
The court released the driver on two sureties and adjourned the case to January.
The court record, as reported, does not name the medicines. Cannabis, known locally as ganja, is banned for recreational use in Sri Lanka, but it is a legal ingredient in a number of registered Ayurvedic preparations. The Ayurveda Act, No. 31 of 1961, as amended in 1962, allows Ayurvedic physicians to obtain opium and cannabis to manufacture their medicinal preparations. A former chairwoman of the state Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation has said that drugs containing cannabis require a prescription from a registered Ayurvedic physician and cannot be bought over the counter.
The best-known of these is Madana Modaka. Under the act, registered practitioners may obtain cannabis to make and sell preparations such as Madana Modaka pills, which are made from cannabis leaves and seeds fried in local herbs and ghee. It is usually recommended for flatulence and loss of appetite, and also as a sexual stimulant. A handbook from the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board reports that in 2023, the Ayurvedic Drug Corporation at Navinna used 617.81 kilograms of cannabis to produce medicines including Madana Modakaya, Kameshwari Modakaya and Buddaraja Kalkaya, and that registered doctors and drug producers across the country used a further 643.83 kilograms. The Ayurveda Department reportedly makes 74 local medicines using cannabis.
Most of that cannabis comes from police seizures. The corporation issues powdered cannabis to Ayurvedic drug manufacturers with the approval of the Ayurvedic commissioner, and only after it has been mixed with ghee, oil or semi-manufactured drugs.
The products have also been misused. Ayurvedic regulators said last year that about 10 factories were making Madana Modaka illegally with more cannabis than the law allows. The regulators also said that properly made Madana Modaka is not intoxicating and is mainly used to treat indigestion in young children. The Department of Ayurveda has said the police can act against the illegal possession of drugs such as Madana Modakaya and Kameshwari Rasayanaya.
The case comes during a national crackdown on drug-impaired driving. Officials said 480 drivers were arrested for drug use in the first 22 days of 2026. That January, the police introduced a mouth-swab test that can detect 12 types of drugs, allowing officers to identify impaired drivers quickly and produce them before a judicial medical officer for further examination. In September, Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya said on-site drug-testing kits would be introduced within two to three months.
