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DUI cases thrown out, but prosecutors are still concerned 

HONOLULU – 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. 

Owner Keoni Verity makes his patrons belly up to the bar for bowls of the muddy-tasting drink. That way, he can see if they’re still walking straight after their third, fourth or fifth refill. 

“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. 

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. 

But prosecutors on the mainland and in Hawaii are concerned kava may be too relaxing for those drive after drinking it. 

Northern California has seen two such cases this year. 

This 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. Sione Olive was pulled over after weaving onto a highway shoulder. A similar case against a kava tea drinker from San Bruno ended in a mistrial earlier this year after jurors found not enough was known about the tea’s effects. 

The cases are believed to be the only of their kind in California, and among the first nationwide. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

But with kava bars proliferating here and on the mainland, Kamita said law enforcement officials are increasingly concerned about kava-influenced drivers. 

“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. 

Verity, 31, who opened Honolulu’s first kava bar last year, said the effects are generally the same for his patrons. They include college students, tourists and blue and white collar workers, many of them former South Pacific residents. 

”‘Awa in general relaxes and soothes and creates a mild sense of euphoria and expansion, and you can kind of see that in the way people slow down a little bit both in their movement and their speech,” he said. “People just generally get more mellow.” 

The flavor is “rather earthy,” he said. “Some describe it as being somewhat bitter.” 

Prices start at $3.50 a bowl. Sweeter varieties, made from wet rather than dried grounds, cost more. 

Hawaii law doesn’t explicitly ban driving while under the influence of kava, Honolulu Deputy Prosecutor David Sandler said. And Hawaii is not one of roughly 40 states that ban any substance impairing a person’s ability to drive, he said. 

Bills that would add Hawaii to that list of states have died in the Legislature in the past two years, Sandler said. 

“If you abuse kava, it’s the same thing as abusing alcohol,” he said. “The difference is in Hawaii we can’t prosecute it.” 

Sandler said he didn’t know of any specific cases of drivers getting into trouble after drinking kava. But he said it’s hard for police to gauge the extent of the problem because kava is not among the substances authorities test for when a driver is pulled over. 

“There have been times where we’ve had negative test results and we’ve wondered what the person was on,” Sandler said. 

Verity said the problem can be solved with public education and sound policies kava serving establishments. He said he does not serve anyone under age 20 and asks customers if they plan to drive. 

“One of the first things we do is caution against driving,” he said.