CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A new UVA Health study found calls to poison centers about kava, a drug from a Southeast Asia plant found in drinks marketed plentifully in the Charlottesville area and elsewhere as a healthy alternative to alcoholic beverages, rose 383% between 2011 and 2025.
The finding prompted UVA Health Blue Ridge Poison Center Director Dr. Chris Holstege to co-author of a new bulletin in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that these beverages sold at gas stations and vape shops also contain another drug from a Southeast Asia evergreen called kratom.
“Historically in the Pacific Islands, the kava root had traditionally been prepared as a water-based beverage, so they consumed this in cultural and social settings with relatively low reported health risks,” Dr. Holstege said in a UVA Health reporter conference call…