The ABC has been worded up that kava has been banned from this year’s Multicultural Festival after the Thereapeutic Goods Administration rejected an application for an exemption.
Because too much multiculturalism would be a terrible thing at a multicultural festival.
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Yes and allowing people to supply what is classed as a prescription only medicine to anyone thus giving them permission to break the law is a sooo much better alternative.
I hear it’s traditional to chew on coca leaves in South America. Maybe we could ask for that?
This site might be of interest to folks: http://www.australiankavamovement.com.au/
Kava is an integral part of the culture of Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian culture – it’s an integral part of the culture of Oceania (including Australia), in fact.
In my culture it’s common to snort MDMA and dance all night.
Can we get an exemption?
Because tradition has always been a good reason to keep doing something.
Quit the hysteria buzz819 and Duffbowl.
Kava is very very mild. I drank litres of the stuff over the course of a few hours and basically ended up with a mild level of drowsiness, akin to maybe two or three beers.
The classification of Kava is silly. There is a fair bit of evidence that Polynesian communities with limited access to Kava are turning to alcohol instead, with far worse social consequences.
Jethro said :
No hysteria on my part. Just wondering where the line gets drawn. Kava, like alcohol and tobacco, is regulated for public consumption in Australia.
While you can indeed drink litres of the stuff, it is dependent on the preparation. Just like making alchohol, changing the quantities used in preparation can change the final product.
Duffbowl said :
The line has been drawn in the wrong place.
I see the Kava ban in a similar light to the cannabis ban, which was originally a racist reaction to its use by Mexicans and black people in America.
Jethro said :
Mate your an idiot, between this and your pro cannabis wanks you put up on here, the line is drawn in the sand, you can not drink it legally, you can not possess, grow or supply cannabis, you can not drink and drive, you can not murder people, you can not have too many persons in the one licensed premises. You don’t like the laws then buy an island and do what you want. Go back over to the Greens and focus on the big issues, like women only pools.
buzz819 said :
yes because drinking a mild sedative that has yet to be proven to have any effect on anyone is akin to murdering someone. Meanwhile alcohol and smoking is legal. Just because something is illegal now doesn’t mean it has to be forever.
Also I don’t think drinking it is illegal, just selling teh drink at social gatherings.
Baldy said :
Drinking cava or smoking dope turns you into a psychopathic axe welding hamster.
I have peer reviewed papers to prove it.
Somewhere…
Oooh, Deja vu
http://the-riotact.com/poll-allowing-kava-at-the-multicultural-festival/38210
I’m pretty sure this happened last year.
Thoroughly Smashed said :
In some PNG tribes it is tradition for the Big Men to initiate the young boys into the tribe by gathering them all together in a single building for a night and then raping them.
Tradition is not always right.
However, cava is really pretty harmless.
Thumper said :
Got a cite for that? Sounds like Racist Bulls***
Perhaps it has something to with some of these reported issues?
http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-risks/illicit-drugs/reviews/our-review-kava
http://www.nt.gov.au/health/healthdev/health_promotion/bushbook/volume2/chap1/kava.htm
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/importation-of-kava
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Kava
http://www.druginfo.adf.org.au/drug-facts/kava
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-01-24/kava-problem-growing/1916502
Stevian said :
Agree it does. If true how the h*** did a tradition like that start????
Baldy said :
Frankly I can’t remember the source, it’s been a long time since I studied anthropology at uni.
And no, nothing racist about it.
Just showing that because something is tradition it doesn’t mean that it is good.
“Honest officer, smoking it is part of my culture and heritage, Rastafari, Jah rule!!!
For those who didn’t know, Kava is to the Pacific Islanders the Blood of Christ.
So important that the Tongan Royalty drink it in ceremonial matters.
For Australian Islanders, Kava drinking groups or clubs are ways for the community to come together – keep, the young men off the street and learn the thousands of songs, oratory and also the art of comedy and public speaking. When the men get together they pool money for members of the community in need.
This money from every Kava club is sent back to support the homeland – plus sustains the Kava industry there.
Without blowing my own trumpet again, I filmed a kava club – http://vimeo.com/23034059
For those who think Kava should be banned you may learn something and change your opinion.
chewy14 said :
Kava drinkers shouldn’t be considered as drug addicts
Baldy said :
Sounds plausible – a parallel tradition seems to have developed within the Catholic Church.
Anyway, Kava is far more harmless than alcohol or tobacco. Its ban is a form of cultural discrimination against pacific islanders, just as Jethro said.
Completely hypocritical and unacceptable in this day and age.
HenryBG said :
Frankly I can’t remember the source, it’s been a long time since I studied anthropology at uni.
And no, nothing racist about it.
Just illustrating that just because something is traditional it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is good.
Thumper said :
That might explain the recent increases in Catholic clergy resident in PNG.
Thumper said :
Like stories of Canibalism such tales are primarily to demonise the “savage primitives” and as such are Racist. If in anyway true, they are account of abberant rather than normative behaviour. So the question stands is it just a travelers tale or is there any truth to it?
Kerehona said :
No. Particulaly since it isn’t illegal.
Stevian said :
Why do people simply scream ‘racism’ whenever something they don’t like is mentioned?
It is not racism. It is not intended to demonise anyone. It has nothing to do with cannabalism. It has nothing to do evil white men colonising countries.
It is a fact. And it was considered perfectly normal behaviour.
Whether it is still practised today I cannot say, but it most certainly was practised within the past 50 or so years.
Thumper said :
I was also informed about this practice while studying ANthropolgoy at ANU some years back.
Having done some reading today (no, I’m not claiming to be an expert), it seems the biggest issues with kava come down to overuse, or use in conjunction with other intoxicants. Used in lower levels of concentration, and treated as a social use, it appears to be no worse that alcohol in similar concentration and use patterns.
It’s a combination of lack of thought and knee jerk reaction intelligence. The religion of the left states that any time any differences between races are noted, or that a person is of a race, or of another colour skin, gets mentioned, screaming “racism” is the most powerful approbation that can be issued, and saves you ever having to think about the subject or actual issue at hand.
Ben_Dover said :
Stevian said :
What a ridiculous bit of leftist ideology you are regurgitating. I assumed it was satire on first reading.
What’s the clear evidence of cannibalism among Japanese troops in New Guinea? Racism as well?
Cannibalism in plenty of savage primitive cultures was entirely normative, contrary to your leftie delusions.
Suttee, also, was not aberrant (but definitely abhorrent).
Plenty of cultures display plenty of normative behaviours which are completely unacceptable to a civilised society.
Fact.
Not “Racism”.