If kava were anything like xanax, I would be in serious trouble.
Not only is their basic premise faulty, the section regarding kava is as well. They really have taken the slight (and I do mean slight) GABA-A affinity to mean that kava is some sort of natural benzo. Not so. The only increase in activity at the GABA-A receptor was in the presence of 300µM kavain. This is a concentration level far above what we would expect to see even in the most chronic of kava consumers. In addition, kavalactones were shown to continue to exert their effects even in the presence of flumazenil, a potent benzodiazepine antagonist.
