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has the ability for some drinkers to: `release aggressive
<br />impulses; if anything kava inhibits or disassociates
<br />them. You cannot hate with kava in you', argues
<br />Lemert (1967: 333).
<br />Comments such as kava drinkers
<br />remaining clear-headed, and not interfering with rea-
<br />soning, demonstrate that kava's effects on the brain
<br />are quite different to that of alcohol. if a comparison
<br />was to be made between alcohol sad kava, it would be
<br />described as a slightly drunk feeling in the body after
<br />consuming high volumes (Aronson, 2008). Cairney
<br />et al. (2003) who studied kava and mental clarity,
<br />found: 'no impairment in cognitive or saccade function
<br />in individuals who were currently heavy kava users, nor
<br />was there any impairment in individuals who had been
<br />heavy kava users in the past but had abstained for
<br />longer than six months' (389)- Thomson (2008) adds
<br />that `most people who drink kava for the first time -
<br />...expend too much effort analysing its effects on
<br />them and can be heard muttering that they don't feel
<br />a thing' (72).
<br />In Lewin's (1998) study of late 19th and early 20th
<br />century colonial impressions of kava, he reported that
<br />users allegedly craved kava:'like all other passions of a
<br />similar nature, morphinism, alcoholism, etc. The kava
<br />drinker is incessantly tormented with the craving for his
<br />favourite beverage' (187). Lewin described this before
<br />making it clear that: 'I do not, however, consider it
<br />probable that kava is the original cause of these afflic-
<br />tions' (187). This though did not prevent Aronson
<br />(2008) from quoting Lewin's `...incessantly tor-
<br />mented...' sentence, for which he did not acknowledge
<br />the original author, and therefore linked kava with
<br />addiction (183).
<br />Various addiction 'specialists' have
<br />reported that psychological dependence on kava
<br />includes cravings and dysphoria when the drug is with-
<br />held (Golan et al., 2008: 268). Adams (1998) reports
<br />A consultant psychiatrist at the St Giles prychiatoe
<br />hospital in Suva, in eastern Fiji, Jude Ohaere, sees
<br />kava abuse casualties every day... Dr Ohaere has no
<br />doubt that kava users become dependent on the drug,
<br />and warns that the long-term effect of its active ingre
<br />diens kava lactones - are unknown. (19)
<br />In another attack on kava following the rise in popu-
<br />larity of kava bars in the USA, Rodriguez (2016) sug-
<br />gests that: 'when someone walks into a Kava bar, the
<br />last thing they are thinking of is going away to rehab in
<br />Science, Polity and Low
<br />the next few months.' He adds that the 'regular use o`
<br />Kava can lead to a chemical withdrawal syndrome,
<br />with some developing a physical dependence very
<br />quickly.' This however has been denied by long-term
<br />heavy kava users who report that periods of kava
<br />abstinence, as part of cultural observance, are
<br />common, with users reporting or showing no addictive
<br />symptoms during these times. Such commentary aligns
<br />with a gathering body of research and ethnographic
<br />comment, showing that kava use, even at high volumes
<br />and regular use, is not generally addictive (Bilia et al.,
<br />2001; Connor et al., 2001; Geier and Kontantinowicz,
<br />2004; Kellner and Folkes, 2005; MediHerb, 2004;
<br />Scherer, 1998; Thompson et al., 2004). Drawing on ear-
<br />lier research, Aporosa (2014) summarizes by suggesting
<br />that `if the label "addiction" is to be applied to yaqona
<br />[kava], I would hesitantly use "socially addictive- in the
<br />sense that it has been habituated to most aspects of
<br />Fijian socialization' (147) -
<br />Despite kava being a daily practice in many Pasifika
<br />communities (Aporosa, 20196), assertions that kava is
<br />non -addictive is well documented (as shown in the
<br />lengthy reference list above). Additionally, Sarris
<br />et al. (2013) undertook a double-blind, placebo com-
<br />parison aimed at kava withdrawal and addiction,
<br />reporting 'no addictive qualities or withdrawal issues'
<br />(1727). Admittedly, the doses administered (120mg
<br />titrated to 240mg of kavalactones per day per partici-
<br />pant over six weeks) are considerably less than those
<br />consumed by traditional and recreational kava drinkers
<br />(Sarris et al., 2013; 17271 amounts that can be more
<br />than 30 times those used in the Sarris et al's study
<br />(Aporosa, 2017b).
<br />faioioe- .lu r Of interest is kava's use
<br />in several drug -addiction therapy programmes, encap-
<br />sulated in the title of Steiner's (2001) article, 'Kava as
<br />an anti -craving agent', which reports the preliminary
<br />results of kava to mitigate alcohol, tobacco and/or
<br />cocaine craving. Braun and Cohen (2010) also discuss
<br />the value of kava to benzodiazepine withdrawal. They
<br />report that kava `may have an anxiolytic effect beyond
<br />the benzodiazepines' (281), and that 'withdrawal symp-
<br />toms following discontinuation of benzodiazepines
<br />occurred somewhat less frequently under treatment
<br />with WS®1490 [kava extract], and even if they did
<br />occur, the anxiolytic effort remained' (282). Further,
<br />kava has been used as part of two District Health
<br />Board (New Zealand (NZ)) addiction rehabilitation
<br />programmes; one in the Bay of Plenty aimed at alcohol
<br />which is now in its seventh year (Crowley, 2015, perso-
<br />nal communication) and the other in Marlborough, a
<br />NZ smoking cessation programme entitled 'Kava -
<br />cation' which boasts a 90% success rate (Daunauda,
<br />2016)- Moreover, Marotta (2018, personal
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