A new round, a new assignment

We were given our rounds for our second assignment a while ago, and I have begun thinking about a topic to start on.

I nearly cried with happiness when I drew the health round out of the hat. It is so broad I can touch on basically anything. Of course, then I realized picking a particular topic was going to be even more challenging - which one will I do?

I have been toying with the idea of kava use, and how it's ban has affected both Aboriginal and Pacific Islander communities in Australia.

I am particularly interested in this idea since reading this story on the National Indigenous Times website:


Police seize kava, cannabis

ISSUE 174, April 2, 2009: Police in the Northern Territory outback have seized kava and cannabis worth more than $160,000.



A Landcruiser travelling on the Central Arnhem Highway towards Arnhem Land was pulled over and searched earlier this month. 

Inside the car, police officers allegedly discovered 137.4 kg of kava in 6,560 separate deal bags and 225g of cannabis in 588 bags.



Police said the drugs had an estimated street value in remote communities of about $165,000.



The haul led to a search of a home in the Darwin suburb of Coconut Grove, where officers allegedly uncovered another 3.4 kg of kava and 7 g of cannabis.



Four men - aged 49, 46, 43 and 41 - are in custody and police expect to charge them with possessing and supplying a commercial quantity of kava, possessing cannabis of a trafficable quantity and unlawfully supplying cannabis to another.



Kava was banned from Aboriginal communities as part of the government intervention purportedly launched to combat child sexual abuse. - AAP


This is interesting to me because of it shows banning a substance doesn't seem to do enough, it only spurs a black market trade. I am also interested in finding out whether kava actually does pose health problems, considering Pacific islanders have been using it for centuries and I have read of differing studies where the health effects are contested.

I am also interested in this topic from a personal perspective. I am of both Pacific Islander and Aboriginal heritage. My dad is both a descendent of the Darumbal peoples of Central Queensland as well as Vanuatu, the Solomons and New Caledonia. So I am conflicted as to whether kava should have been banned. I understand the social importance of kava to islanders, and yet I know there are affects on Aboriginal communities.

But has it's ban affected the mental health of expat Islander communities in Australia? That sounds stupid but i know when you are unable to practice your culture, it can affect health.

I'm probing for an angle around these issues... haven't really collated my thoughts yet.