Australia mulls kava imports ban

By Phil Mercer
BBC News, Sydney

Kava has great social significance in the South Pacific

Australia is considering banning imports of kava to stop abuse in remote aboriginal settlements.

The soothing, non-alcoholic drink was introduced to indigenous areas to try to combat the spiralling alcohol abuse.

But critics warn that kava has simply heaped more misery on Aborigines.

"Communities must tackle this dreadful problem," said Henry Councillor from the National Aboriginal Community Control Health Organisation, a body that advises the federal government.

You are basically seeing adults and young people in semi-comatose positions as a result of the sale of (this) dangerous substance Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough

There is concern that abuse is responsible for extreme weight loss and has the potential to cause liver damage and psychiatric illness.

"The impact of kava on some communities is similar to alcohol and drugs," Mr Councillor told the BBC: "People feel dispossessed, are unemployed, have a lack of education and look to substances to occupy themselves. It affects our young people mentally and physically."

'Mood altering'

Australia's Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough said a ban on kava imports was being considered.

"You are basically seeing adults and young people in semi-comatose positions as a result of the sale of (this) dangerous substance," Mr Brough told Australian radio.

Kava is made from the thick roots of the piper methysticum plant, which is a member of the pepper family.

Alan Clough believes kava actually presents some serious hazards

Dried and powdered parts of the evergreen shrub have been imported to Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory from Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu since the early 1980s.

It is mixed with water or in the South Pacific - where kava has great ritual and recreational significance - it is often blended with coconut milk.

"The argument is still raised by local people and policy makers alike that kava is an alternative mood-altering substance which does not have the undesirable effects on family and community life that alcohol does," explained Alan Clough from the Menzies School of Health Research in Darwin.

The tranquillising brew has a peppery taste and numbs the tongue and lips. It can induce a sense of well-being and drinkers often report feelings of euphoria followed by a good night's sleep.

Weekly ration

Mr Clough believes that this placid picture hides some serious hazards.

"Kava's health effects include toxicity, withdrawal seizures and extreme weight loss in heavy users - and a loss of body fat similar to that seen in anorexia nervosa," he said.

Joy White says aborigines are facing far worse problems than kava

Researchers also suggest that prolonged abuse increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, pneumonia and liver dysfunction.

In Arnhem Land in Australia's rugged Northern Territory the kava trade is subject to a strict licensing system to limit supply, although there is also a flourishing black market.

A small number of officially sanctioned retailers are allowed to sell up to 800 grams of powder to an individual each week. Researchers claim this is more than double what they consider to be a safe level of consumption.

Despite these warnings, many Aborigines consider kava far less of a problem than the twin demons of drink and hard drugs.

"I see people drinking kava and they don't act silly in any way," said indigenous elder Joy White: "It just makes them happy. They just get merry, talk nicely to people, dance and go to sleep."

She concedes that the overuse of kava can cause health problems but insists that Australia's Aborigines face more serious challenges that need to be addressed.

"Drugs are killing our people," she explained: "They're hanging themselves for no reason at all. I've never seen anything like it. Our people are dying like flies. And the alcohol destroys our people too," she added grimly.