Post #6313 by cynfulcynner on Tue, Aug 20, 2002 10:22 AM

Amidst all the talk about kava, I recalled hearing about a guy who drank a bunch of it and was arrested for DUI. I found an article about it in the SF Chronicle's archives:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/07/24/MNS175175.DTL

Case of kava-drinking
driver will go to trial

Chronicle Staff Report
Tuesday, July 24, 2001
An Arizona man who drank 23 cups of kava tea must stand trial for driving under the influence after a panel of San Mateo County judges overturned an earlier ruling dismissing the case.

Sione Olive, 26, was arrested more than a year ago in East Palo Alto after the car he
was driving was seen weaving onto the shoulder of Highway 101. Olive apparently had consumed nearly two dozen cups of kava, a relaxing herbal drink popular in Pacific Island cultures.

In December, Superior Court Judge Marta Diaz dismissed the case after Olive's attorney argued that the prosecution's case was "unconstitutionally vague" because under state law, kava is not specifically cited as a drug.

Yesterday, Judge Quentin Kopp, writing for the three-member Superior Court panel, said that "actual notice of each drug constituting a basis for prosecution . . . is not required if a person is reasonably made aware of the proscribed conduct, namely, impaired driving ability resulting from ingestion of some substance."