Kava Fact of the Day Drug harm score and where kava sits in that list.

[The Kap'n]

Drug harm in relation to kava.


Today’s fact of the day will be dealing with a study out of 2019 dealing with the harms of various substances frequently used in the Australian community. This study was a workshop and consisted of 25 experts. This workshop took a number of factors into account when judging the harm caused by these drugs. These factors included harm to users, harm to family, dependence, mortality, injury, crime and community impact among others. This list may not reflect what we see in America or in the South Pacific. It’s specific to the Australian community.

A variety of the most commonly consumed drugs were compared against one another in terms of their reported harms. Alcohol routinely scored at the very top of the list followed by tobacco, and methamphetamine, while kava sits happily at the very bottom.

While I’m sure not all of us will agree with the position of every drug on this list, I’m sure we can agree that if kava exists on it, it should be at the bottom. Above we see exactly that. These numbers represent a weighted harm score that this study ascribed to the chemical based on the list of factors described previously.


Bonomo, Yvonne, Amanda Norman, Sam Biondo, Raimondo Bruno, Mark Daglish, Sharon Dawe, Diana Egerton-Warburton, et al. 2019. “The Australian Drug Harms Ranking Study.” Journal of Psychopharmacology 33 (7): 759–68.
(https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881119841569)
(https://sci-hub.st/10.1177/0269881119841569)

 

[The Kap'n]

I meant to post on here that if there were any questions as to why these fell the way they did, click that second link on my source and read the study. It makes sense when you see what they did and how they did it, and you're also correct, this is accurate for the location in which the study was performed. Another note to keep in mind is that these are based on harms that extend beyond physical harm. Example: Cannabis, while we obviously know physical harm is low at best, the harms related to being locked up over it are quite real, and they've also taken this into account. Drugs that fall low on the list where we think should be higher is generally due to a lack of popularity in the area where this study was conducted.

 

[Jean]

I don't know if this article, also from 2019, of interest has been cited in this forum, in any case interesting, a complementary point of view to the above cited article : https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2050324519876131

 

[Kalm with Kava]

The Fentanyls type is really an odd one. Not only is it an opiate, it's a prescription opiate in the USA. I suppose it might not be prescriptive in Australia, but it seems odd to differentiate them in the list. Additionally, the tables while not displaying the same data, don't seem to have any correlation when it comes to Fentanyls.

I also recognize @Kapmcrunk wanted to focus on how kava is low on the totem pole, but I feel like it's misleading (or maybe it's a typo) to show the adjusted score of Fentanyl only .7 above kava out of 100.

Something is wrong there, or I totally don't understand how to read the data. I'm gonna check out the actual study when I find the time.

 

[kavakarma]

I remember this came up in a kava circle on Zoom. The fetnals were low because it is an Australian study and I guess that particular drug is more of an American issue? I am glad you mentioned, Kapm' that not all will agree with the ordering.

honestly I think it is not great to create tables like this because each individual can have his or her own weak points. For example, cannabis or coffee can be mildly beneficial or tragic depending on who you are. And "anti psychotics" are actually known to be quite habit forming, addictive, liver toxic in many cases, disrupting sleep patterns and interacting powerfully with common herbs and heart medications, while there are a select few who may benefit from them.

I am glad kava is not seen as a problem in Australia. It is well received in my area also. I believe the ritual use of kava, its preparation method, and flavor help remedy overuse or abuse. While kava extract may be a score higher on the list. Thank you for sharing, and allowing me the opportunity to express what I felt best to say.