Kava Tea DUI Case Puts Spotlight on Community Steeped in
Tradition
Courts: Ceremonial drink, while not illegal, impaired Tongan man's driving,
D.A. says.
SAN MATEO, Calif.
Taufui Piutau, a native of Tonga, was cited
for driving under the influence--of kava tea, a legal substance widely
used in Polynesian social rituals.
When San Mateo County prosecutors charged
the 47-year-old man with drunk driving last week, they set off a furor
that touches on legal questions, social issues, Tongan tradition and organic
chemistry.
"It's the first time someone in the state
of California has been charged with driving under the influence of kava,"
said Stockton attorney Scott Ennis, who is representing Piutau. "Kava
is not illegal. This is nuts--it's just crazy."
Prosecutors said they spent nine months
researching kava and its effect on motor skills before filing the misdemeanor
charge against Piutau.
"I have no idea what kava is, but it affected
his driving," said San Mateo County Dist. Atty. Jim Fox. "Our understanding
from expert witnesses is that kava has hallucinogenic properties, and
it's clear that that effect impairs an individual's ability to drive."
The saga began in August, as Piutau drove
home at 3 a.m. from his church's kava circle. The social ceremony, in
which cups of kava tea are dipped from a communal bowl, had lasted about
six hours.
California Highway Patrol officers who stopped
Piutau said he was weaving between the lanes of U.S. 101. Piutau allegedly
failed a sobriety test, but tested negative for alcohol and drugs.
He told investigators that he had drunk
about eight cups of kava tea, according to the CHP. The active ingredients
of the tea, which is made from the root of a plant called piper methysticum,
are called kavalactones, and they act on the brain to produce a calming
effect. Now popular in the United States, kava is available in many forms
and strengths.
Ennis said his client wasn't drunk; he was
simply exhausted from the late hour and from sitting cross-legged in a
circle for so long.
California law covers driving under the
influence of anything that might affect the brain, muscles or central
nervous system and could prevent the driver from safely operating a motor
vehicle, Fox said. Within a week of his arrest, Piutau was suspended without
pay from his delivery job at United Parcel Service.
The exotic case has made international news.
Ennis has received calls not only from local newspapers, but also from
"Good Morning America," "Dateline NBC," "Extra," National Public Radio,
CBS Radio commentator Charles Osgood and the German wire service Deutsche
Presse-Agentur.
"Taufui is shell-shocked; he got arrested,
he lost his job and now he's going to trial," Ennis said. "He has exposed
himself to the public much more than he ever thought he would, and he
just doesn't understand."
Cultural differences have complicated the
matter, experts in the South Pacific say. Tonga, a tiny island nation
ruled by a king, has a complex network of social strata in which the kava
ceremony plays a central role.
"Kava is culturally significant and plays
a major role in how people formalize certain celebrations--for example,
the installment of a noble title," said Emeline Uheina Tuita, consul general
of Tonga who serves the 8,000 Tongans in the Bay Area. "In the traditional
culture, the event is not really formalized until the kava ceremony is
held, with the king at the head of the kava circle."
Hillary Rodham Clinton, Pope John Paul II,
President Lyndon B. Johnson and Queen Elizabeth II have been feted with
kava ceremonies.
The kava circle often takes on increased
importance to expatriate Tongans eager to maintain cultural ties with
their homeland, Tuita said. Bay Area Tongans rely on church networks for
moral and social support, and kava circles like the one Piutau attended
are common.
Also common is the Tongan respect for authority.
"They come from a culture where there is
awareness and respect for people of a higher rank. It's an integral part
of their lives," said Janet Hoskins, professor of anthropology at USC.
"Whatever [Piutau] said to the CHP officers was most likely respectful,
and he probably answered all their questions fully--perhaps too fully
for his own good."
Definitive answers about kava are hard to
come by. Although it is among the herbal remedies that have become popular
recently, information about it is scarce. The lack of standardized measurements
makes it difficult to know how much of the active ingredient the various
kava teas, infusions and tinctures contain.
"This is an agent that just hasn't been
studied the way chemical synthetic agents have been studied," said Michael
Wincor, associate professor of clinical pharmacology at USC. "We don't
know how much is too much, although we do know that taking too much is
certainly a possibility."
The consul general agreed. "It is possible
that kava can impair your ability to drive, so it concerns me. I would
not endorse saying, 'Hey, listen, this is social activity; leave it alone,'
" she said. "But I wouldn't like to see it banned either. I think people
must become aware, and they must be careful."
Piutau has a temporary job at a warehouse
and is awaiting his June 26 trial. If convicted, he faces to six months
in jail and a $500 fine.
SOURCES: LOS ANGELES TIMES
Concern as Pacific population moves to towns
Pacific island governments are not paying enough attention to addressing major urban problems such as housing, sanitation and waste management, the United Nations says.
The UN Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) have just carried out a six-month examination of city planning in the region.
Their assessment expresses concern at the lack of action by governments and regional donors in addressing pressing urban development and management issues.
UN-HABITAT says rapid population movement out of rural areas is threatening health and economic conditions in capital cities and towns throughout the Pacific.
It notes that Fiji is more than 50 per cent urbanised - that is, half the population lives in towns - while Nauru and Cook Islands are 100 per cent urbanised.
Sarah Mecartney, Pacific program manager for UN-HABITAT, told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat the growth was putting pressure on housing, health services and jobs.
Among other countries rapidly becoming urbanised are Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, she said.
The growth was typically putting pressure on one urban centre, which had become the focus of government and trade and a lure for people seeking work.
"If you don't have a healthy population you're not exactly going to have very good workers," the official said.
A six-month study found governments are not focusing enough on issues such as water provision and waste management.
Improving urban planning can save governments money in the long term.
"It's costing more to look after people, because of the insufficient planning of services," Ms Mecartney said.
Governments acting to meet the challenges include Papua New Guinea, which is developing a national planning policy, and Samoa which has established an urban planning agency to look at development in the capital, Apia.
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