Multiple headaches from drug imports
p. 11 · Read in the full issue
A FRIEND of mine has theorised that if a drug is exported from its home turf to an entirely new community, and provided it was not chemically synthesised (Like LSD or heroin), then it will certainly be responsible for massive headaches in terms of social, psychological and legal problems.
A society, therefore, must be allowed to develop cultural reins with which to bridle the monsters in the substance. The times span required, however, is a matter of centuries, not years!
This is exemplified in the use of hashish and marijuana in the USA where whole segments of the whole population suffer from both physical and psychological ills through their use whereas in Morocco, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern communities they are daily fare, especially for adult males.
Closer to home the kava (or yaqona) has wrecked such havoc among the aborigines of the Northern Territory, and to a lesser extent in Western Australia, that state governments moved in to look at what threatened to become a national problem.
Missionaries a Tongan and a Fijian are blamed as being responsible for introducing kava to the Northern Territory in the early eighties in a bid to reduce domestic violence in aboriginal settlements.
Kava is a depressant. It created additional difficulties. The aborigines mixed thick kava with spirits, wines and other ingredients so much that partakers in the resultant beverage became somnolent for up to three times the length of a normal rest.
The women folk were delighted because the level of wife beating dropped dramatically and wives were usually ready with some of the punch to administer to their husbands when they but bestirred from a long sleep. The men soon showed symptoms of illnesses that were totally unknown to them heretofore.
In a wider context, however, the idea is also illustrated by the impact alcohol has had on the Pacific Islands, the correlation of alochol to certain categories of crime is well established and truly alarming.
It is absolutely so in Papua New Guinea where currently about 7 5 per cent of serious crime and nearly 50 per cent of overall crime and offences are alcohol-related. Similar proportions hold for the rest of the Pacific though absolute rates are generally lower At any event, the rate of alcohol-related road accidents has an average of approximateiy 90 per cent for the islands.
The psychological problem of the islanders was not helped by the original criminalisation of drugs especially alcohol in all the island groups. When it was recognised that the situation may be partly relieved by easing out the liquor licensing regulations, alcohol became just another commodity and people spoke of it as selling like lemani (lemonade), that is, without a liquor permit.
But the wheel has come full circle in some island countries such as Fiji and Samoa, Recognition of rising crimes and offences rates has caused the authorities to put the liquor strictures back into place. Tonga is now in the second phase
— free access — but may revert back to square one.
In Papua New Guinea and the Solomons to some extent, the public bars bulge with boozing humanity six nights of the week, not to mention the thousands of parties in private homes and apartment houses in all the cities and major towns every weekend.
Tonga projects the same image at weekends and public holidays. On Sundays priests across the Pacific condemn alcoholism from the pulpit, but the governments, like Napoleon, regard it as lucrative sin.
With the exception of only a few, most Pacific islands have breweries of their own. Here they have been assisted by European companies.
Samoa has her Vailima, a German recipe that is also used for the PNG Swan and SP Laeer.
Tonga has Royal, a malted beer with a Swedish formula.
The Taska ofVanuatu is based on the same prescription though it comes in three different proofs. And of course Fiji Beer is an old veteran and has the distinction of being the favourite of many Pacific Islanders.
Before the breweries went into operation between 2.5 and 7 per cent ifisland import bills was accounted for by foreign beer, mainly New Zealand steinlager and Australia Foster.
Since the opening of the local breweries, however, beer import has been cut quite appreciably, in some cases as much as 70 per cent. At the same time consumption of the home brew caused national intakes to soar to at least three times former levels.
The imports of spirits and other liquors and foreign beer despite the initial fall have maintained substantial increases, doubling every three years for most islands.
Talking of drug-use as having a cultural dimension points to another thought. Most Pacific peoples are by nature excitable and show-offs, though not in a derogatory sense.
Their culture makes them open, friendly, and perfectly available.
Therefore they stand in no great need of alcohol or drugs that heighten emotions or tend to excite. One has only to observe the way they go on in public celebrations and festivals to realise that they are as they themselves say “drugged by heaven” i.e. highstrung by nature.
In other words, kava and beetlenut suit them perfectly.
Incidentally, Latin peoples all over the world would be well advised to take kava from time to time, though peoples who are already depressed by nature the English, for example should always keep away from the stuff.
Still, from a historical perspective, the impact of alcohol in the islands, considerable as it has been, has not become the major concern of national governments. We haven’t seen anything yet really, except reversing Jesus’ first miracle we convert in the opposition direction.
It will be with the more potent drugs that the islanders would be required to show their mettle. Yet I suspect that if that happens they would again reverse Marx’s idea and make opium the religion of the people. □