Kava, a beverage made by adding water to the macerated root of the pepper tree, Piper methysticum, is still drunk in Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, and in parts of Melanesia and on Ponape. In Tonga, a group of 3 islands in the western Pacific, 3 types of kava drinking are recognized: the Queen's kava, the nobles' kava and the commoners' kava which is an infonnal party, usually at a young unmarried girl's house, and having some tenuous courtship associations. These parties, at which there is conversation, singing and dancing, are seldom if ever disorderly and are a commonplace in Tonga, more prevalent than alcohol-drinking parties. In one village of 50 households, 45 kava parties were held over a period of 16 days. More men than women drink kava. Kava parties offer opportunities for casual social interaction and the formation of public opinion. The Tongans' preference for kava over alcohol is due (1) to kava's superiority as an intoxicant-it is a mild tranquilizer that produces a dreamy exhaltation, perhaps similar to marihuana; it does not release aggression as alcohol can and is an anaphrodisiac; (2) it satisfies the paramount Polynesian value of psychic rapport without stimulating status rivalries and conflicts; (3) it provides the opportunity to express in a specialized way the society's emulative and competitive values; ( 4) kava intoxication allows psychic detachment from the immediate situation and a retreat to older Tongan values. Some Tongans do become addicted to kava. Its prolonged use can cause skin and eye disorders and, possibly, intestinal obstruction, and can make the drinker impotent and unfit for work. Despite this, the kava addict is socially accepted and can find support from older sacred connotations of kava intoxication as a sign of godlike affinity. The psychic basis of this addiction is seen as some form of retreatist or avoidance behavior from the onerous claims of Polynesian social organization. In Tonga no person under 30 is allowed to buy alcoholic beverages, but the consumption of home brew has increased in recent years. The general attitude is that alcohol is unsuitable for youth and commoners so that youths are not taught how to behave with alcohol. While the tradition of kava drinking has been continuously reinforced in Tongan society, alcohol has remained a marginal cultural alternative.