Yaqona a drug

Press, 14 October 1986, Page 37

Yaqona a drug

NZPA-AP Lautoka The Supreme Court in Lautoka has ruled that yaqona, Fiji’s traditional drink, is a drug under that country’s Traffic Act.

An appeal Judge, Mr Justice Kearsley, dismissed an appeal by a farmer, Ram Sundar, aged 50, against his conviction for driving a car while under the influence of drink or drugs. The Judge said, “It is a notoriously well known fact, of which judicial notice in my view should be taken, that yaqona, drunk in sufficient quantity, induces sleepiness, if not stupor, and impairs muscular co-ordination.”

He said he was satisfied it was yaqona that influenced Ram’s driving capability and led to his car overturning as he was driving home from a party. Judge Kearsley rejected defence arguments that the lower court which convicted Ram had erred in ruling that yaqona was a drug under the Traffic Act.

Yaqona, known as kava elsewhere in the Pacific, is a mud-coloured drink made from water and the pounded roots of pepper plants. Drinking it from a bilo — a half-coconut shell — is a feature of many traditional Fijian ceremonies.