Psychoactive substances of the South Seas: betel, kava and pituri.

Summary

Indigenous peoples in the South Pacific used wild plants with psychoactive properties, notably betel, kava, and pituri, long before alcohol was introduced. These substances were widely used in rituals and trade for their effects on tension reduction and altered consciousness. While there is little indication that these will gain popularity among Western drug enthusiasts like other substances, some potential for use in the West remains possible.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Before white man brought his alcohol to the South Pacific, the indigenes were using many wild plants possessing psychoactive properties. The most prominent were betel in much of Melanesia, kava in much of Polynesia, and pituri in much of Australia. The use of each of these three drugs was widespread, institutionalised as a ritual and the occasion for extensive trade. Each was valued for its effect in reducing tension or in producing altered states of consciousness. Each was also capable of inducing intoxication. Since few physicians nowadays have had my opportunity to observe the use of all three of these substances, their main features are recalled here. Attention is paid to their traditional use and probable future use, to their pharmacological and clinical properties, and to their place in the zeitgeist of people and period. There is no indication that these substances will be espoused by the drug enthusiasts of the West as avidly as other ethno-psychopharmacological agents such as Peruvian coca leaf, the Indian hemp, the Asian poppy, or the American tobacco. The possibility, however, of some use in the West cannot be discounted.