They include college students, tourists and blue- and white-collar workers, many of them former South Pacific residents. Verity, 31, who opened Honolulu's first kava bar in 1999, said the effects are generally the same for his patrons.
"Kava does have a sedating effect, especially when taken in the raw form from the root, and may cause a person to fall asleep while on the road or act as if they are intoxicated similar to as if they are on liquor," Kamita said. Kava is not an illegal narcotic under Hawaii law and there is no identifiable movement to ban the substance, according to Keith Kamita, administrator of the state Narcotics Enforcement Division.īut with kava bars proliferating here and on the mainland, Kamita said law enforcement officials are increasingly concerned about kava-influenced drivers. Now, with its reputation as a natural alternative to muscle relaxants and anti-anxiety medicine, kava capsules, tablets and liquid are among the top-selling herbal remedies in the United States. Tea made from powdered kava root has long been used in cultural and religious ceremonies by immigrants from Tonga, Fiji, Samoa and other South Pacific Islands, as well as by Hawaiians. The cases are believed to be the only of their kind in California, and among the first nationwide.
Sione Olive was pulled over after weaving onto a highway shoulder.Ī similar case against a kava tea drinker from San Bruno ended in a mistrial earlier last year after jurors decided that not enough was known about the tea's effects. Last month, a San Mateo County judge tossed out a DUI case involving a man accused of drinking 23 cups of kava tea before climbing behind the wheel. Northern California saw two such cases last year. The herbal root known as "awa" to Hawaiians, and kava throughout much of the South Pacific, is billed as a natural treatment for anxiety and insomnia.īut prosecutors on the mainland and in Hawaii are concerned kava may be too relaxing for those who drive after drinking it. "If they sit at a table and order many drinks without ever getting up, they sometimes don't realize how the 'awa' is affecting them," Verity said. That way, he can see if they're still walking straight after their third, fourth or fifth refill. Owner Keoni Verity makes his patrons belly up to the bar for bowls of the muddy-tasting drink. There are no waiters or waitresses at Hale Noa, a quiet cafe just off the main drag of Waikiki where the South Pacific elixir kava is the only brew served.
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