WaitingForGrogot
Kava Curious
After discovering Kava I often reflect on the work conducted by Professor David Nutt in the UK. For those that don't know him, he worked as the government's drugs advisor and has been vocal about the need for an alternative to alcohol. He's even gone as far as to research synthetic alternatives to alcohol that avoid its harmful properties.
Here's Nutt speaking in 2014: ""I have spent 20 years trying to reduce the harms of alcohol, and then about 10 years ago – while working under the UK's Foresight initiative – we thought 'we'll never stop alcohol being toxic because it's intrinsically such. It causes cancer or liver disease, for example. So why don't we replace it with a safe drug?'" You can read the full article here.
It seems to me that a synthetic alternative isn't needed. We already have kava. Though still little known in the west, and prohibited in certain jurisdictions, I think kava needs to be promoted as a safe alternative to alcohol. Though only anecdotal, the experiences recorded on these pages suggest some excellent success moving from alcohol to kava, with a gradual loss of desire to drink booze. I didn't start drinking kava to replace alcohol, but within a few months, I found that I had no desire to drink anymore. I eventually stopped drinking completely, even in social events, because when I got home I wanted to have a shell. Imagine what some academic research into its potential as a replacement for alcohol could show...
I think one way to prevent the troublesome 'legal high' label sticking to kava, would be to promote it as a safe non-toxic alternative to alcohol, that can help many issues associated with alcoholism. It's potential for harm reduction in countries with high alcohol consumption is immense:
Nutt: ""Alcohol is the leading cause of death in Britain today in men between the ages of 16 and 50," [...] "It has overtaken traffic accidents, suicide and cancer. The health costs amount to £3bn a year.
Kava has 1000's of years of use as a mild intoxicant that has none of the above problems. I think this needs to be celebrated, researched, and promoted as much as possible.
Here's Nutt speaking in 2014: ""I have spent 20 years trying to reduce the harms of alcohol, and then about 10 years ago – while working under the UK's Foresight initiative – we thought 'we'll never stop alcohol being toxic because it's intrinsically such. It causes cancer or liver disease, for example. So why don't we replace it with a safe drug?'" You can read the full article here.
It seems to me that a synthetic alternative isn't needed. We already have kava. Though still little known in the west, and prohibited in certain jurisdictions, I think kava needs to be promoted as a safe alternative to alcohol. Though only anecdotal, the experiences recorded on these pages suggest some excellent success moving from alcohol to kava, with a gradual loss of desire to drink booze. I didn't start drinking kava to replace alcohol, but within a few months, I found that I had no desire to drink anymore. I eventually stopped drinking completely, even in social events, because when I got home I wanted to have a shell. Imagine what some academic research into its potential as a replacement for alcohol could show...
I think one way to prevent the troublesome 'legal high' label sticking to kava, would be to promote it as a safe non-toxic alternative to alcohol, that can help many issues associated with alcoholism. It's potential for harm reduction in countries with high alcohol consumption is immense:
Nutt: ""Alcohol is the leading cause of death in Britain today in men between the ages of 16 and 50," [...] "It has overtaken traffic accidents, suicide and cancer. The health costs amount to £3bn a year.
Kava has 1000's of years of use as a mild intoxicant that has none of the above problems. I think this needs to be celebrated, researched, and promoted as much as possible.
