Former Auckland radio personality Shashi Prakash believes kava is causing more harm in the community than good. He talks to Radio Tarana's Sanjesh Narain.

An Auckland man has set out on a campaign to stop people from drinking kava - for at least a month - claiming the muddy coloured drink is causing more harm than good.

Shashi Prakash, a former Auckland radio personality also known as "Prakash Radiowala", says kava, better known as yaqona or grog among Fijians, is breaking up families, and causing serious financial implications for some.

Kava, a muddy tasting drink squeezed out of pounded root powder of the kava plant (piper methysticum), is a legal and traditional Pacific island beverage with relaxant effects. In Fiji, it is their national drink, also served to visiting dignitaries or royalty.

Supplied Auckland man Shashi Prakash is on a campaign to stop people from drinking kava for a month.

And the Fiji Indians are fond of it too - so much so that some now say that Fiji Indians are now consuming more kava than the indigenous Fijians for whom the beverage has traditional significance.

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But now, thousands of miles from its origins, kava drinking has firmly established its roots among the Fiji Indian community living in New Zealand, where its consumption is abused in many cases.

Radio Tarana Waikato-based researcher Dr Apo Aporosa talks to Radio Tarana's Sanjesh Narain about adulterated kava.

One freight company told Radio Tarana that more than five tonnes of kava was being imported into New Zealand every month, going up to eight tonnes during Indian festive seasons.

Prakash said many Fiji Indian men in New Zealand had a habit of going to kava drinking sessions, starting soon after coming home from work, usually in a gathering at a friend's house, kava bar, or at a pooja (Hindu religious ceremony) function.

"Biggest problem here is people tell their families they are going to drink kava, then they drink up to 10-11pm, but there are many who continue drinking until 2-3am, and they can't wake up in the morning to go to work," Prakash told Radio Tarana.

Waikato Times Some of the kava coming into New Zealand is adulterated, says Hamilton researcher Dr Apo Aporosa.

"In winter when it's cold, and people don't get enough sleep, they end up sick with colds and are teary eyed - and it's all because of abuse of kava.

"As a direct result of this condition people are not able to perform well at work, do not look after their families, and this creates a lot of tension in the families," Prakash said.

"I recently visited Fiji, and many people, especially women of the younger generation, expressed concern over the kava drinking habits of their men-folk.

"They complained that their husbands went out to drink kava after work every day, leaving them to mind the children and do other chores, while they drank kava until the early hours of the morning," he said.

"Many families are breaking up and husbands and wives are quarrelling, and it's all because of kava," Prakash said.

"Not to mention that excessive drinking of kava gives you scaly skin."

Prakash said that social problems aside, kava consumption these days was now causing serious financial issues in many homes.

In the past two years, the price of a kilogram of kava has risen sharply driven by demand overseas - from $25/kg to a staggering $150/kg in New Zealand, and the prices are similar in Fiji.

Aside from the casual drinking of kava in many Fiji Indian homes, consumption goes up 10-fold after a religious ritual or similar function.

Many Hindus observe a 13-day discourse of the Bhagavad Gita in their homes following a death of a family member, followed by singing of bhajans and kirtans (religious songs) by mandalis (community groups) and that's when the kava sessions start and can continue well into the early hours.

And it falls on the host family to supply visitors and the singers with top quality kava. Over 13 days, this can cost up to $2000 on top of the cost of the funeral itself and also food for all.

As one pundit confided, if there was no kava, these mandalis would cease to exist.

And Prakash, whose Facebook campaign has so far garnered close to 17k views, believes his initiative will help drive down the price of kava in New Zealand and also in Fiji.

But a New Zealand researcher on the effects of kava is adamant that kava alone is not to blame for the social problems.

Dr Apo Aporosa, of the University of Waikato, says it boils down to people's motivation levels.

"We can't blame kava, no," Aporosa told Radio Tarana.

"Yes, kava does make people feel lazy, but even if you stay up late and play Playstation, you'll be tired and lazy.

"Question is whether you want to go to work; I know plenty of hard workers who drink kava and still go to work next day," he said.

"We need to stop blaming kava and need to look at ourselves and talk about our personal choices and what we're doing here.

"Comes down to our motivation levels."

Aporosa also highlighted the fact that a lot of kava coming into New Zealand was not pure, but adulterated by other substances like flour, soil, and copra.

"Kava is not pure like it used to be, there's lots of adulteration.

"I've had kava with flour mixed in it, copra, and also soil - these have the potential to have serious health impacts," Aporosa said.

"It's not kava causing health issues, but what people put into it."