fydesvindico Posted August 6, 2011 NZ man faces jail over kava haulLast updated 13:44 06/08/2011 A young New Zealand man arrested for importing nearly 20kg of kava into Australia's Northern Territory may go to jail.The 23-year-old man was caught about 8pm (local time) on Thursday by a drug sniffer dog at Gove Airport in Arnhem Land, north east of Darwin, police said. His luggage contained 19kg of kava separated into 18 different bags. The street value of the drugs was estimated at $19,000. Kava, made from the roots of a pepper plant, is a controlled substance in Northern Australia. It was first introduced into eastern Arnhem Land from Fiji in 1981 in a bid to stop people drinking alcohol. Though most communities introduced a self-imposed ban on the drug it was still consumed widely in Arnhem Land. It acts as a sedative, induces muscle relaxation and can have a psychoactive effect. The penalty for possessing or supplying a commercial quantity of kava is eight years in jail. Police said the man appeared in the Nhulunbuy court on Friday and charged with possessing and supplying a trafficable amount of kava. He was remanded in custody and will reappear in the Darwin court on Monday. His name has not been released. source Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tipz Posted August 6, 2011 preposterous in every sense of the word ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mycot Posted August 6, 2011 (edited) "His luggage contained 19kg of kava separated into 18 different bags. The street value of the drugs was estimated at $19,000." This is absolutely ludicrous, at one time you could get it from the asian supermarket for less than ten dollars a kilo. And jailing someone over such an innoculus substance thats used by Pacific nations communally without problems is again ludicrous. Is the law trying to tell us that the kava of the peaceful Pacific islanders is worse than their booze. If its so lucrative, goddamn we should be growing the stuff. Edited August 6, 2011 by Mycot Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bℓσωηG Posted August 6, 2011 ffs... ( we need a face palm emoticon ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SunChaser Posted August 6, 2011 There's aboriginals walking around everywhere up there, who have brain damage and missing limbs from all the alcohol & petrol abuse. Kava is the least of there problems and making it illegal (expensive) just contributes to the unbelievable poverty and 3rd world conditions some aboriginals in the NT are forced to live in. Peace Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted August 6, 2011 (edited) So sad to see yet another life potentially destroyed by the war on drugs. With that said, I'm not sure the ban on kava in the NT is such a bad one. I've not looked into it a great deal, but with addiction (to anything they can get their hands on) running so high, and with such grievous results, in the Aboriginal communities up there, I feel that cutting off the supply of the substances which they're addicted to and dealing with the actual causes of the problems would have to be a good decision. Of course, they haven't eradicated petrol, so banning kava is pointless, not to mention the root cause of the problems is not being treated effectively anyway. Mycot, kava does actually cause problems in Pacific nations. It's not a drug without health side-effects. Edited August 6, 2011 by tripsis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SunChaser Posted August 7, 2011 They haven't been able to eradicate alcohol or any other drug from aboriginal communities. The whole 'war on drugs' is based on the mentality of that one class of people can handle getting intoxicated and another can't. This way of thinking has been proven to not only be flawed, but it also actually ends up making the problem far worse. When they cut off the aboriginals from there local alcohol supply, it doesn't stop them from drinking! If nothing else, they'll just spend what little money they had to feed there family on driving thousands of kms to somewhere they can get grog. Same goes for kava and any other drug, if they want it they'll get it. Making it harder it get, just lowers the individuals and there families quality of life even more. Just simply dealing with the overcrowded and disgraceful housing conditions a lot of aboriginals are living in, would do far more to lower the drug abuse rate, than banning a substance could ever do, imo. A substance being easierly accessible is not what causes a person (whether there black or white) to abuse it to the point of killing themselves. It's extreme boredom and mental illness that causes a person to go down that path. Extreme drug abuse is just a symptom of mental illness and poverty, not a cause. Peace Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted August 7, 2011 That's my point. Unless they deal with the root causes, banning substances will not help. It might help if they lower accessibility to a substance while simultaneously dealing with the root problems, but that just isn't happening. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mycot Posted August 7, 2011 Mycot, kava does actually cause problems in Pacific nations. It's not a drug without health side-effects. Seriously abused I can understand kava having health side-effects. Even coffee can have side-effects if seriously abused. I have little knowledge of the severity of the problem in Pacific nations though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bℓσωηG Posted August 7, 2011 I have little knowledge of the severity of the problem in Pacific nations though. yea its so bad in the pacific islands ,it turns them into the most welcoming and happy people on the face of the earth... nup cant have that... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted August 7, 2011 yea its so bad in the pacific islands ,it turns them into the most welcoming and happy people on the face of the earth... nup cant have that... No, that's cultural, not drug induced. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bℓσωηG Posted August 7, 2011 (edited) Well does it make them otherwise? No, not like crappy ass alcohol, ever been to a pacific island tripsis? Fiji perhaps Vanuatu ? Man most chilled cats i ever met, and after 27 cups of kava i didn't feel like doing the bad,bad things i feel like doing after 4 beers ,. If rastas didn't smoke weed they'd drink kava ... Edited August 7, 2011 by bℓσωηG 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted August 7, 2011 Yeah, sure have, my ex is half Fijian. I completely agree, Pacific Islanders really are the most welcoming and friendly people I've met and I've travelled a fair bit. However, the problems associated with kava I'm talking about are not to do with aggression. Long-terms effects include negative impacts upon health and apathy, such as chronic use with cannabis can cause. See here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bℓσωηG Posted August 7, 2011 Nice link tripsis. Problems associated with kava useA range of public health problems are perceived by Pacific Islanders to be linked to the changing patterns of kava consumption. The most obvious of these, the drying and scaling of the skin among some heavy consumers of kava, is sometimes pointed to by health workers as a sign of possible underlying organ damage caused by the drug. The scaly skin I saw quite a bit of in Fiji, even had some kava which was squeezed out by hands covered with this skin condition... ew but would have been rude to not drink... PacificIslanders used kava mainly within ritualized circumstances. Among other things it was exchanged as a means of strengthening kinship ties, drunk in order to reaffirm rank within society and drunk in order to facilitate communication with the gods or spirits. One of the notable features of almost all kava rituals was that there were restrictions on who could drink kava, when, and in what quantities it could be drunk A traditional kava drinking ritual is different to sitting in a kava bar and consuming large amounts for sure. But better they drink kava than rum i say. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tripsis Posted August 7, 2011 I agree, kava is definitely better than alcohol. Of course, most drugs are! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
