NCJ Number
205029
Journal
Drug and Alcohol Review Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2004 Pages: 117-126
Date Published
March 2004
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the kava regulatory system in the Northern Territory in Australia.
Abstract
Kava has become internationally controversial because, from 1998, evidence began to appear in suggesting that manufactured products containing kava were associated with irreversible liver damage. This controversy has led to a greater urgency to control kava use and to monitor its health effects. Kava abuse and profiteering from its trade remain significant public health issues in Arnhem Land Aboriginal populations in the Northern Territory. Some Arnhem Land groups seek to continue using kava and to control its sale, distribution, and the profits from the enterprise. Policymakers in the Northern Territory have proposed principles of harm reduction and created regulatory mechanisms to address broader public concerns and to support local management of kava supply while reinforcing control over the consequences of its use. The kava regulatory system now being implemented in the Northern Territory features kava management plans developed in consultation between Aboriginal communities and licensing authorities. It complements the earlier Harm Reduction Digest 9, which looked at Kava in the South Pacific. It will be important that the licensing commission continue to maintain the criterion that wholesale and retail licensees use profits from kava sales for local community benefit and for monitoring, education, research, and evaluation as opposed to private or corporate gain. Licensed retailers must adhere to their kava management plans that form the conditions of their license and implement their strategies to reduce harm from excessive kava use. National regulatory authorities will need to consider likely impacts of their future decisions on the developing system for kava regulation in the Northern Territory. 1 table, 65 references