Breaking News - MADD Mothers Now After Tea Drinkers?
May 3, 2000 -- California now prosecuting drinkers of kava tea
A report by Mary Ann Lickteig of the Associated Press tells us that a California man has been charged with driving under the influence of tea. Taufui Piutau was pulled over by the Highway Patrol because he was driving too slowly, around 55 MPH. (What ever happened to “55 Saves Lives”?) Piutau failed a field sobriety test, but a later urine test showed no signs of drugs or alcohol.
According to Mr. Piutau, he had spent the previous hours with church friends, drinking kava tea. The drink, used ceremoniously in the Pacific islands, is made by steeping powder made from the rhizome of a pepper plant called kava-kava or Piper Methysticum.
The Physicians' Desk Reference for Herbal Medicines calls kava-kava a drug with anti-anxiety effects used to treat patients who are nervous, stressed or restless.
Proper usage presents no known health hazards, the reference said. "Reduced visual power and reactivity while driving may occur, but this effect has not been confirmed," the book said.
Thus far, the arrest has cost Piutau his job as a Federal Express driver ($25,000+ in lost wages) and considerable legal expenses. His lawyer expresses confidence that the matter will be cleared up at trial.
"He was drinking tea, but he was not guilty of having reduced capacity to drive," said Piutau's lawyer, Scott Ennis. "It's like drinking a double cappuccino."
Prosecutors have taken nine months to bring this case to court. A jury trial is scheduled for June 26.
For more on the story check out:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/calreport/calrep_story.cgi
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