Tipplers falling back on ‘arishtams’ and ‘asavams’ to replace alcohol is nothing new. In the lockdown period, however, the trend seems to be on the rise and doctors have warned against its health impacts. According to sources, Ayurveda pharmacy stores across the State have of late found a surge in demand for arishtams and asavams, which have alcohol content up to 10%.
Staff in some Ayurveda pharmacy stores in Kozhikode claimed that the sale of such medicines had gone up by around 30% after the enforcement of the lockdown. So much so that a certain pharmacy firm put up an advertisement in a Malayalam newspaper last Saturday pointing out that the ‘arishtams’ and ‘asavams’ they manufacture are strictly for medical purpose and “should not be used with other intentions.” Some others are now insisting on a medical prescription.
Manoj Kaloor, functionary of the Ayurveda Medical Association of India (AMAI), said that ‘arishtams’ and ‘asavams’ had “self-generated alcohol”. “We prescribe around 25 ml of these medicines as one dose, depending on the condition of the patient and the nature of the disease. However, if one person consumes a bottle of the medicine at once, he may get a high. But, doing it on a long-term basis may affect body parts,” he pointed out.
According to rules, individuals cannot store ‘arishtams’ and ‘asavams’ beyond a certain limit.
Excise Department officials, meanwhile, claimed that regular inspections were being carried out not only at Ayurveda pharmacy stores, but also at other branches of medicine to check the misuse of medicines, if any.
According to rules, individuals cannot store ‘arishtams’ and ‘asavams’ beyond a certain limit. Asked if they had issued any special circular limiting their sale to only those who carry doctors’ prescriptions, the officials said that the current rules were enough to deal with the situation.
Ayurveda practitioners, however, said that it would be difficult to check individuals buying one or two bottles at once and repeating the practice frequently. It would be better if the Excise staff came up with a drive to check the misuse, said AMAI functionaries.
