SOME KAVA RETAILERS CRITICAL AN 'OVERREACTION' BY GOV'T OFFICIALS

Kava is off the shelves of Grande Prairie health food stores, but retailers
think Health Canada is off-base on the product's ban.

The stop-sale order was issued Aug. 21, after the federal ministry said a
study of the herbal supplement concluded kava may cause liver damage.

"The government always overreacts when it comes to natural supplements,"
Enviro Store owner Leon Pendleton says.

Kava wasn't a huge seller for the store, but "it seemed to help some
people," he said.

Government has no hard evidence that kava is harmful and should do its
homework before making any kind of decision on a product, he said.

"If they want to know if it's safe they should do the research or allow us
who have been doing this a long time to help people instead of hindering
us," he said.

Feedback from customers is that the ban is "basically another intrusion on
the ability of people to treat themselves," Pendleton said.

Health Canada says the herb, commonly used for insomnia and anxiety, has
been linked to four cases of liver toxicity in Canada.

None of those cases were fatal and Pendleton thinks the pharmaceutical
industry, particularly Prozac producers, have been pressuring government to
protect their own interests. Kava, he said, treats depression as does Prozac.

"Government is blinded by the big pharmaceuticals. (Those companies) want
it off the shelves... because kava does the same thing naturally,"
Pendleton said.

Judy Hamilton, manager of the Health Hut in the Prairie Mall, agrees the
recall is "all about money, all about politics."

"It has nothing to do with safety," Hamilton said noting of the four
Canadians who had liver problems after taking kava, one was an alcoholic
and all were terminal patients taking a number of medications.

If government wants to worry about something, it should look at cigarettes
and alcohol, she said.

"(Those substances) kill millions every year. When government gets serious
about that carnage, when they take that seriously, I'll get serious about
kava," Hamilton said.

The store has been offering a form letter protesting the ban to customers
to send off to area MLAs and MPs.

Kava, derived from a native Pacific Islands plant, does have a positive
history, Cathy McLean, manager at Homesteader's Health Hut in the Gateway
Centre said.

"It has had centuries of use by other cultures. It has a proven record that
has validity to it," she said.

Some customers are still looking for it too, she said.

"People come back to replenish their supply. They usually only do that if
they have faith it works well," she said.

With so many people benefitting from the herb the recall simply isn't valid
and the health supplement industry does feel "picked on" when government
issues such directives, McLean said.

"There are products on the market known to cause cancer and Health Canada
still doesn't remove them," she said.

Adverse effects from kava are possible, if people take to much of it, but
that risk is the same for any drug. When approved medications are abused,
with people taking overdoses that cause them harm, the drug isn't recalled,
she said.

"We don't feel (the products) are dangerous, we feel (over) users are
dangerous. If you look at what is out there, obesity, smoking, there are
health issues if you consume too much of some things," McLean said.

Based on currently available information, the use of kava is considered to
pose an unacceptable potential risk to health, Health Canada's stop-sale
order says.

An expert advisory panel, not yet created, will review and evaluate new
scientific information about kava as it becomes available, the ministry's
notice says.