rp21 situational analysis - Pacific Health Voices

Situational analysis of drug and alcohol issues and responses in the Pacific
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nature of consumption and its importance
in strengthening ties of kinship, reaffirming
rank and facilitating communication
with spirits.
Although it is a plant extract widely used
across the Pacific, kava is now a strictly controlled
substance in Australia, recognised for
its narcotic and health effects, despite its
social and ritual importance. 77 Traditionally
it has been used as a herbal treatment for
cystitis, urethritis, rheumatism, and infection
of the genito-urinary tract. It has also been
used for treatment of nervous anxiety, tension
and restlessness, and mild depression of
non-psychotic origin. 78 Related health effects
include a skin condition, some evidence of
organ damage, and what has been described
as an ‘amotivation’ syndrome, with impacts
on life, work and social interactions.
Kava drinking, while not illegal, is associated
with alcohol and tobacco use and is
flagged as a concern because past research
has shown that consumption rates for these
drugs are atypical and much higher among
kava drinkers. 79 Use among women and
youth is cited as evidence of a significant
change in consumption patterns, a change
from usually enforced restrictions limiting
consumption to adult males of rank. 80 It has
been suggested that modern methods of
kava sales and consumption mirror alcohol
sale and consumption patterns, e.g. kava bars
and takeaways. These will be significant for
assessing trends and harms in light of suggestions
that kava rituals are the drinking
model for alcohol in the Pacific. 81 However,
there is also a view that groups traditionally
excluded from kava consumption have
tended to consume imported alcohol as a
sign of status and esteem, exclusive to those
included in the kava ritual, suggesting influence
flows in a different direction. 82
The social harms directly related to kava
are the subject of a large number of anecdotal
reports, while not necessarily being
well researched. These harms include family
breakdown due to extensive periods of time
away from the family and neglect of family
responsibilities. In Vanuatu, people associate
kava drinking with promiscuity. In contrast
to these views of the harms, it is also
reported as popular ‘lore’ that kava drinking
reduces the level of crime, in particular,
domestic violence, despite what alternative
indicators suggest. 83
77 Australian Drug Foundation Druginfo Clearinghouse, Fact sheet on kava: (accessed December 2009); kava is also called
yoqona in Fiji.
78 A. Denham et al. (2002), Kava — the unfolding story: report on a work-in-progress. Journal of
Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 8(3): 237–263.
79 D. McDonald & A. Jowitt (2000), Kava in the Pacific Islands: a contemporary drug of abuse?
Drug and Alcohol Review, 19: 217–227.
80 Ibid.
81 Ibid.
82 Vanuatu is an example of this.
83 McDonald & Jowitt above, fn.79.