textfiles/drugs/ALT.DRUGS/kava.txt

Account of the effects of a Kava extract

Kava (Piper methysicum) is a traditional Fijian intoxicant,
which is legal in many countries. The roots contain various
active substances, e.g. methysticin, tetrahydromethysticin,
any of which require quite large amounts (>1g) for narcotic
activity. It has become popular in Australia, particularly
among the Aborigines of the Nothern Territory, and is sold
in Fijian shops, and some corner stores in Sydney.

The traditional preparation involves soaking pounded ground
root in water for some hours, straining, and then drinking
the liquid slowly and continuously for hours. Most non-Fijians
find this extremely unpleasant, despite the strong local
anesthetic effect on the lips, mouth and throat. Hence, I 
decided to prepare an extract that might be more effective 
and easy to ingest.

I bought 450g of powdered "Lewana" grade Kava for A$13 (around
US$10). "Waka" grade may be more effective, and the whole
root better still, although the preparation is more
difficult. The whole powder was soaked in aprx. 800 ml
freshly distilled acetone for a few hours with occasional
stirring. The excess yellow acetone extract (around 300 ml) 
was decanted and filtered, and the solvent distilled off, to 
leave a golden brown oil which solidified somewhat on standing. 
This process was repeated with fresh acetone (around 300 ml)
aprx. six times, with the slurry being heated to boiling on the 
final time, and all of the residues were combined, to give a 
layer of oil aprx. 3mm thick on a standard petri dish. This amount
was divided between three people.

At 6:30 pm, we ate a teaspoon of the oil, washing it down
with plenty of water. There was a momentary mild queasiness
as it hit the stomach, which passed quickly. Seven minutes
later, the first effects began, with a mild wave through
the body of relaxation, and mild euphoria. Further teaspoon
doses were taken at 6:45 and 7:00. The pleasant effects
continued to increase in intensity, and were not unlike
a large dose of codeine, although with some numbness and
tingling in the extremities. There were some mild
visual effects, with the world taking on a kind of
sheen or glow.

By about 7:30 pm, a change began to take place. The initial
lightness started to give way to a more heavy intoxication,
with some heaviness in the limbs. It was decided to smoke
a moderately large quantity of marijuana (heads, leaf and
a little hash). At this point, the effects intensified 
significantly. The combination was similar in some ways to a 
modest dose of LSD, although with a strong stoning effect as well.
It could perhaps be compared with a mixture of LSD and a lot
of alcohol. The audio hallucinations were most pronounced, 
and stronger than those of LSD, with changes in the perception 
of distance and direction of sounds, as well as a kind
of phased/flanged effect. 

The Kava effect continued to increase in intensity and change 
in quality over the next few hours, eventually (at about
9pm) leading to a feeling similar to being extremely drunk
and extremely stoned - there was heaviness in the
limbs, lack of coordination, some blurred vision and
difficulty walking. However, nausea was slight, and
there were none of the other problems associated with
excessive alcohol. The brain remained relatively clear
throughout, and through the entire experience there was
a degree of serenity and lack of anxiety. At one stage I 
decided it was too heavy to remain upright, and lay down for 
half an hour, and entered a highly interesting semi-conscious 
state, being almost asleep and thinking freely.

At around 10 pm, the effects began to very slowly decrease in 
intensity, and were still relatively strong at 1:30 am.
Sleep was easy and deep, and I awoke with little residual
effect.

In summary, an acetone extract of Kava seems to be a
most effective way of concentrating the active ingredients
and making ingestion easy. The effect is initially one
of a pleasant euphoric narcosis, followed by a heavier
and less pleasant drunken feeling, particularly in the
body. There is little desire at the end to repeat the
experiment immediately, despite its having been enjoyable.
It enhances the hallucinogenic characteristics of
marijuana, particularly wrt audio hallucinations.

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Newsgroups: alt.drugs

        This past weekend, I broke down and tried the Kava Kava powder that I 
got from ...of the jungle a while back.

        I began to make the drink the traditional way (well, kinda traditional)
by mashing the powder around in my mouth and spitting it back out into my ARA
Houston Cougar mug.  This didn't look very appealing, as you can imagine, so I 
abandoned this fairly quickly and moved on to a method involving lots of 
soaking of the powder and a huge number of coffee filters.

        You might think that OTJ are kidding or being melodramatic when they
mention all of the face making and such that goes into the drinking of this
concoction.  The first sip isn't quite so bad.  The second is loathsome.  The
third is worse yet.  I found a few pieces of ice added to the mix helped a
great deal.  This is not something to be savored like a fine brandy or such -
this is something to be gobbled down like a bottle of Crazy Horse. :-)

        The effects were hard to describe.  I was definitely messed up in a
pleasant sort of way - but I didn't seem to be incapacitated at all.  I went
into the Kava in a very lousy mood, I was tired, mentally-overdrawn (which
doesn't take very much :-) ), and generally in the sort of humor that a 
disgruntled postal worker falls into immediately before going on a killing
rampage.  After it kicked in though - I was, well, relaxed.  I was still aware
of all of the deadlines and such hovering over me - but they all seemed to 
be put in perspective.  

        I spent the evening listening to music, reading, etc. - underneath
a sort of umbrella.  The next morning, I was still in a sort of Kava envelope, 
although  I doubt that any of the active ingredients were still working their
magic.

        All in all - it seemed to be a very worthwhile experience - much better
than say, drinking one's self into a stupor.  I don't know if I'll buy any more
root after my current supply is gone - but I'll definitely finish up what I 
have.  It's well worth a try.

============================================================================

Newsgroups: alt.drugs

    Thought I'd share my experience with Kava Kava.  I bought 1oz.
of Kava Kava at a local herb store (cost about $2.50 US).  I used
the recipe posted here some time ago.
I mixed 1oz. Kava Kava powder with 10 oz. Coconut Milk,
2T Olive Oil, and 1T of Lecithen.  Put all this stuff in the blender
and blended well.  I then poured the concoction in a glass and placed
it in the refrigerator for about 1hr.  

    Let me tell you, this stuff tastes god-awful!  Part of it was that
the powder wasn't totally dissolved, so the liquid was kind of grainy.
Couldn't handle much more than a few small sips at a time.  I drank 
about half of the above mixture over a period of about 30 min.  Effects
came on rather quickly, and could be described as a light-headed
euphoric-like feeling.  I was playing some good music, and noticed that
it sounded particularly good.  No particular problems with coordination.
Overall quite pleasant, not overly strong, so most activities were 
still possible (I wouldn't recommend driving).  Probably worth repeating,
but don't know about that taste, YUCH!  Does anyone have another method
of preparation which might be more tolerable?

=============================================================================

Newsgroups: alt.psychoactives

: Three subjects, one message, Here goes:
: Kava-kava:  After reading about it's use in Australia I bought a couple
: ounces at a local health food store.  Some I prepared with hot water, 
: some with grain alcohol, some with valerian root as well.  Overall the most
: noticeable effect was the fact that kava causes local anesthesia of mucus
: membranes (in this case the inside of my mouth).  I did not fell sedated
: or excited in any way.

I had kava-kava once when visiting Ponape island in Micronesia. There
they call it Sakau. We went with someone who knew the way to a place
in the middle of a residential compound. There was a 'bar' set up
with low benches and a roof made of corrugated steel. A teenage girl
sat near the side of the area with a bright red plastic bucket
near her feet. At the tables sat maybe three older Ponapeans - the
place was mostly empty. They were all sitting very quietly gazing
into their mugs. We sat down and the girl brought the bucket over
and scooped a half coconut's worth of sakau out into our mugs (each
mug-full cost about 25 cents). The stuff was very slimey and very
muddy. It was sort of like drinking dirty phlegm. After a few minutes
of sipping (you don't want to gulp that stuff) our gums and tongue
started to get numb, sort of like under novacain. A few minutes
more and the numbness spread to the face and throat. After a while
the novacain feeling turned into a feeling of VERY deep relaxation.
It was sort of like getting a shot of novacain in the brain. We got
very quiet, slowed way down, and sat there gazing into our mugs like
the others. I think if we had another mug our minds would have
shrunk down to tiny little dots inside a great mass of deep
relaxation and numbness in mind and body.

A pretty good evening all around!

BTW, while I was there I tried a couple of the other specialties.
Betel Nut, of course. Chewing a nut (split in half with a little
powdered lime on it and wrapped in a tobacco leaf) is like drinking
about seven cups of coffee - it was too intense for me. Besides,
it makes your saliva turn a fluorescent red color which then starts
to rot your gums. You can tell the Betel Nut chewers (usually all the
older Yapese) by their red rotten teeth, and by the little bag of
nuts they carry eveywhere. Another beverage I had there was
called 'Faluba,' it was made simply by letting coconut sap from the
stem where a frond was cut off drip into a jar for a couple weeks.
The sap ferments during that time. It makes a killer drink, kind
of like drinking hard liquor but without the sloppiness. The locals
liked to mix it with Mad Dog 44 (?? it was a while ago). Very
festive stuff, it would turn the normally shy polite micronesians
into wild banshees.

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Newsgroups: alt.drugs

I have tried kava and it is the most piss poor drug in the world, I have 
soaked, strained, boiled, chewed the most potent grade available (waka) and 
it does sweet jack. The most potent form supposedly is when you get a thick 
slippery goo, which always happens with any thorough preparation. I have 
heard that the resin may be extracted by soaking kava in acetone 
strain & evaporating the acetone to leave a yellow resin which when smoked 
on cannabis gives an "LSD like" trip (this may be an exaggeration!!). I 
think that the situation with kava is like that of Khat, the fresh material, 
well prepared is quite powerful, the dried important stuff is useless, my 
basis for saying this is my own and other people's experiances with Kava 
and a few papers I have read on the subject (which generally conclude that 
kava contains a powerful narcotic). The only effects I have experianced from 
kava are; mild tranqilisation with distinct skeletal muscle relaxation 
simmilar to 2 - 5 mg temazepam (this was kava (waka) soaked in warm water 
for 15 mins, stirred up and skulled) and  very mild tranqulisation with 
slightly stronger muscle relaxation silmmilar to about 5 mg temazepam (kava (
waka) macerated, boiled in olive oil/milk and forced through a cloth).  
 Kava is available in most Fijian produce supermarkets, and is not covered 
by the Victorian poisons act (Which is so cunningly general that it requires 
separate listings and clauses to allow the sale of the most basic licit 
drugs and even prohibits the mere thought of taking chemical which do not 
exist and may not even be possible to make, its true !!!).
mick

=============================================================================

Newsgroups: alt.drugs

I've taken Kava Kava (root chunks, lowest about 1 1/2 tsp, most about 1 oz)
about four time, and haven't really noticed anything.  I've taken it as 
suggested in a book (add to boiling water, then drink when cool; I put it in
the fridge and ground it up in a morter/pestel before adding it), with 
orange juice, and with strawberry quick.  Oh ya, and in each one I've added
about a tsp of lecithin granules.  Any ideas?  

=============================================================================

Newsgroups: alt.drugs

-> I'm curious about the effechtiveness of the dried powder (available
-> at my local natural foods store) versus that of fresh or dried whole
-> root. Do the active alkaloids
-> survive the grinding/drying? Or if they do, is the product a lot less
-> potent? I want to try some of the powder (appropriately emulsified)
-> but know nothing of quantity required for a relatively mild effect
-> (at least at first!) or it I'd be completely wasting my time choking
-> down some vile concoction?? Help!

Well, the "Nature's Way" capsules I got contained only 300 mg of kava
apiece (+125 mg of arrowroot as filler), so getting a full ounce
requires around 90 capsules (almost a whole $10.25 bottle!).  I tried it
with about 60, opened each capsule individually, mixed it with olive oil
to emulsify it (it turned into a booey brown paste), and stirred it into
milk with a lot of Hershey's syrup.  It tasted like dirt but wasn't as
bad as, say, nutmeg.

My mouth went somewhat numb (a good sign), but very little else
happened, aside from a (possibly psychosomatic) slight feeling of
relaxation.  One source said that Kava can have little to no effect the
first time or two that you try it, so I suppose that I should try again
to be sure.  However, I never want to have to open up that many capsules
again, so if I do decide it's worth trying, I'm going to find a place
that sells the real root or a liquid extract.

It sounds like a nice substitute for alcohol, and seems to be used a lot
in the Pacific.  One book I found (_Kava, the Pacific Drug_, by Vincent
Lebot), shows a picture of Pope John Paul II drinking kava with the
Fijian Prime Minister!  Hey, if the Pope does it, it must be OK!  ;)

=============================================================================

From: karl.hiller@cccbbs.cincinnati.oh.us (Karl Hiller) 

Well, after the ordeal of opening up sixty-odd capsules (a good $7
worth of "Nature's Way" Kava Kava) and having to swallow a bunch of
arrowroot filler along with it, all of which produces a mild,
unremarkable state of mellowness, I stumbled by accident upon a natural
foods store which carried "pure" kava powder for $2.15 an ounce.  Quite
a bargain in comparison!

I emulsified the stuff by soaking it in canola oil for a few hours,
then (with the thought of making "tea"), mixed it in water and
microwaved it.  Bzzzt!  Error!  The oil did not mix well with the water,
for one thing, and behind the somewhat nasty taste of the kava was,
well, imagine what a mixture of vegetable oil and water would taste
like, drunk together.  Ick.  It was also thick and pudding-like.  It
numbed my mouth well enough but I only was able to choke down three or
four tablespoons before my gorge threatened serious rising action.

After a while (when my stomach had settled), I dumped about a third
of this muddy goo into a mug of milk and mixed it up.  This went down a
bit better, but I still had to resort to quick chasers of coke (the
soda, not the narcotic) to kill the nasty aftertaste.  I got down two
mugs of this, using up two-thirds of the goo.  At this point I was
sloshing (it felt sort of like a "W" overdose...) and vaguely nauseated.

So what happened?  Well, for about ten minutes I felt oddly out of
synch, with that sort of tunnel vision that happens when you've been up
too long.  I was sort of relaxed, but a single glass of wine or bong hit
would have relaxed me more.  Right now (hours later), I'm still feeling
queasy.

It is said that people often don't feel the effects of kava on the
first few attempts.  This was #3, and it's going to be the last.  It
wasn't as nasty as nutmeg to get down, but it was akin to drinking mud.
It is also said that this is a very popular drink in the South Pacific.
Well, more power to them, if they can stomach it.  Maybe I did something
wrong in my preparations.