Transcript
APO APOROSA : At the beginning of last year I was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand to investigate the effects of kava, kava use, and that is at traditional consumption volumes as we'd standardly drink in the islands which we are replicating here in Aotearoa New Zealand, and the effects of that on driving.
SARA VUI-TALITU: Now you have just gone to the region. What has been the reaction to your research?
AA: Very interested. Naturally there is a lot of kava drinking in the islands. People are driving after kava and there's no test as there is with alcohol to measure their consumption of kava or the effects so naturally there was a lot of interest. But of added interest to me was that initially some of the groups that I visited and one of the groups in one of the countries that I visited, (I went to Samoa Tonga Fiji and Vanuatu,) and in one of the countries I was speaking to the police and as I entered the room, it was quite clear that you know, who is this guy coming in to tell us about our substance and potentially bringing a negative commentary to that substance. So the room was a little thick intially but we broke the ice and there was a few jokes afterwards with them asking me what car I was driving so they knew to pull me up afterwards. But it is a common thing with Pacific islanders and this is an icon of our identity and we are reluctant to think that somebody is pulling it down. So for someone to do this type of research I am doing does has the potential to pull it down and that was never the objective but we have to research these things to find out what is going on. One more thing if I can drop this in, is this thing we discussed a lot in Fiji called the washdown. People drinking a wine or a beer after kava to getting an extra hit. I was speaking to some tongans some samoans and even ni-Vanuatu, who are regularly and routinely doing this.The science is out on it at the moment as to whether it is a safe practise. The WHO has confirmed that kava iin its traditional use liver damage
SV: So do you think in the islands, re: traffic and police, would they be looking to see what more they could do in this area relating to enforcement?
AA: Defintely, definitely. And so I am talking to people like police sergeants who are overseeing teams who are dealing with motor vehicle accidents are those same police sergeants who drink kava. So you have got them very interested in what's happening because they have to clean up the carnage. All the police I spoke to all commented on that they believe that kava is causing some motor vehicle accidents , not high speed motor vehicle accidents unless someone drives on the other side of the road and have someone plough into them. But in drivers driving quite slowly, being very cautious and holding up other drivers ,so they believe that is happening but on the other side of that is that they are also mindful of kava as a cultural icon and we discussed potential ways forward.
SV: What is next for your study?
AA: So what we are looking at is a new series of tests to measure fine driving motor skills and fatigue. Is it fatigue that is like us sitting like 6-7 hours? So is it fatigue that is also causing this problem so we will be looking at a new series of tests that are going to be looking at fine motor skills and fatigue and tests that consider the action of kava on the central nervous system.
