'Wash down' with alcohol

Kava drinkers urged not to "wash-down" with alcohol

A researcher from Waikato University, Apo Aporosa, recently visited Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Vanuatu to gauge reaction to his study funded by New Zealand's Health Research Council that examines kava and drink driving.

Aporosa said he was advising people to avoid a trend he observed in the Pacific called a 'wash-down'.

He said this is when people drink alcohol after a traditional kava session that can last for hours.