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Kava is used by indigenous
people of the South Pacific because it significantly
alters the physical and mental state of the drinker in
highly pleasurable ways. When drunk in moderation, kava
is a fundamentally friendly drug, promoting a state of
tranquility, happiness, and contentment.
Unlike alcohol, kava does
not provoke aggressive, boisterous, or violent behavior.
Nor does kava drinking cause that unpleasant next-day
symptom of alcoholic intoxication, the hangover. Unlike
heroin, kava does not incapacitate the drinker. Unlike
cocaine and its harsh offspring crack, kava does not
cause deterioration of health and fragmentation of the
mind.
Unlike prescription
sedatives, kava is not physically addictive, nor does it
diminish reason, mental clarity, or memory. Instead,
kava's effects are fundamentally friendly. Kava
reinforces social bonds, enhances sense of community,
and encourages a spirit of conviviality among drinkers.
As I have previously
described, the potency of kava is the result of three
factors--the variety of kava, the age of the kava plant,
and the preparation of the beverage, especially
dilution. These three factors determine the amount of
pharmacologically active kavalactones present in the
final drink. A mature, seven-year-old plant of a potent
variety provides excellent material for strong kava. The
extent to which the beverage is diluted will determine
the actual concentration of the drink.
I have seen a couple of
kilos of freshly macerated kava root mixed with a few
gallons of water and strained to yield a reasonably
strong kava. I have also seen similar quantities of
freshly macerated root mixed and kneaded with just
enough water to make the whole mass thoroughly wet, and
then pressed very hard, yielding a drink resembling
pure, fresh kava juice of extraordinary potency.
The kava preparation on
one island or another, or for that matter in one village
or another, determines how strongly the effects are
felt, and how much can be consumed. Accounts and
experiences of the effects of kava consumption therefore
vary.
In a Berlin Medical
Society paper on kava published in 1886, author and
researcher Lewis Lewin, one of the pioneers in the field
of psychoactive drugs, offered an accurate summary of
kava drinking. "A well prepared kava potion drunk in
small quantities produces only pleasant changes in
behavior. It is therefore a slightly stimulating drink
which helps relieve great fatigue. It relaxes the body
after strenuous efforts, clarifies the mind and sharpens
the mental faculties. If a certain quantity of these
active elements is absorbed they produce special
narcotic effects."
According to Lewin, kava
is "a real euphoriant which in the beginning made speech
more fluent and lively and increased sensitivity to
subtle sounds." Describing the peaceful effects of kava
on drinkers, he added, "The subjects were never angry,
aggressive or noisy."
In the 1927 French edition
of his magnum opus on psychoactive plants, "Phantastica:
Narcotic and stimulating drugs," Lewin elaborated more
fully on the effects of moderate kava drinking.
When the mixture is not too strong, the subject attains
a state of happy unconcern, well-being and contentment,
free of physical or psychological excitement. At the
beginning conversation comes in a gentle, easy flow and
hearing and sight are honed, becoming able to perceive
subtle shades of sound and vision. Kava soothes
temperaments.
The drinker never becomes
angry, unpleasant, quarrelsome, or noisy, as happens
with alcohol. Both natives and whites consider kava as a
means of easing moral discomfort. The drinker remains
master of his conscience and his reason.
Lewin went on to
articulate the effects of over-consumption:
When consumption is
excessive, however, the limbs become tired, the muscles
seem no longer to respond to the orders and control of
the mind, walking becomes slow and unsteady and the
drinker looks partly inebriated. He feels the need to
lie down. The eyes see the objects present, but cannot
or do not want to identify them accurately. The ears
also perceive sounds without being able or wanting to
realize what they hear. Little by little objects become
vaguer and vaguer.
The drinker is prey to
exhaustion and feels the need to sleep more than any
other sensation. He is overcome by somnolence and
finally drifts off to sleep. His sleep is similar to
that induced by alcoholic inebriation and the subject
comes out of it grudgingly. When the mixture is of
moderate strength the effect is felt twenty to thirty
minutes following its absorption.
The effect lasts for about
two hours, sometimes longer and up to eight hours. How
long the effect lasts depends on the drinker's level of
inurement. When the mixture is concentrated, i.e., when
it contains a lot of resinous elements, the effect is
felt much more quickly. Drinkers can be found prostrate
at the place where they have drunk their kava.
While I have participated
in high-volume kava drinking sessions, I have neither
witnessed nor experienced the mental disconnection or
perceptual breakdown Lewin describes. However, regarding
physical concerns, Lewin is right on the money. If kava
is consumed in excess, the legs in particular can become
tired, and one may experience a lack of coordination for
a short period of time.
A modern account of kava
drinking is offered by Gregory, whose experience closely
mirrors that of my own.
Kava seizes one's mind.
This is not a literal seizure, but something does change
in the processes by which information enters, is
retrieved, or leads to actions as a result. Thinking is
certainly affected by the kava experience, but not in
the same ways as are found from caffeine, nicotine,
alcohol or marijuana.
I would personally
characterize the changes I experienced as going from
lineal processing of information to a greater sense of
"being" and contentment with being. Memory seemed to be
enhanced, whereas restriction of data inputs was
strongly desired, especially with regard to disturbances
of light, movements, noise and so on. Peace and quiet
were very important to maintain the inner sense of
serenity. My senses seemed to be unusually sharpened, so
that even whispers seemed to be loud while loud noises
were extremely unpleasant.
For the most part kava is
used by native Pacific islanders in moderation. As a
daily libation among men, kava is consumed at the end of
the work day, and the ritual of kava preparation and
drinking affords both a social time and an opportunity
for individual meditation. However, as is the case with
any psychoactive plant, there are those individuals, few
in number, who drink excessive quantities of kava.
If kava is consumed in
very large amounts, the drinker feels irresistibly
compelled to sleep. Interestingly enough, however, the
excessive kava drinker will retain the ability to think
clearly right up to the time of sleep. Even when
consumed in great quantities, kava still does not fog
the mind or produce delirium.
Every psychoactive plant
has its signature effect. Coffee, for example, is well
known for its enhancement of alertness. Cannabis is well
associated with the enhancement of pleasure, especially
that of a sexual nature. Coca leaf, not to be lumped
together at all with cocaine, enhances endurance,
especially in the rarified altitudes of the Andes where
it is commonly used.
Ayahuasca, which is widely
used throughout the Amazon, promotes insightful visions
(not to be confused with random, nonsensical
hallucinations) to such an extent that it is dubbed
"vision vine." Tobacco, the ubiquitous smoke or chew,
soothes the nerves and gently dulls emotional
sensitivity. The signature of kava, the drug of choice
in the Pacific, is its promotion of peace, tranquility,
and friendliness.
Excepted from "Kava:
Medicine Hunting in Paradise" by Chris Kilham. |
