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Bringing pugua stateside
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Posted on Feb 03 2012
Having traveled abroad on occasional family visits, it has come to a frustrating point where I ask myself how my own people must have been asking themselves the same question over and over again: Why is it that our own palm nut product can’t make it to the U.S. mainland-be it through mail or carry-on? Why is it that we are U.S. citizens yet our very own product cannot be imported into the mainland, yet similar products from a foreign land make it through customs and are for sale almost everywhere in most Asian stores?
For starters, I want to be able to bring along my own supply whenever I travel for my own personal use but I’ll be willing to share with my fellow island brothers and sisters. Although it may not be regulated for medicinal purposes as cannabis, it has been widely used in my tiny homeland by our elders and young alike for decades. We don’t refer to it as palm nuts but betel nut by most, puu in my native Refaluwasch tongue or pugua in Chamorro.
Although it can somewhat be considered a form of drug, it is to my knowledge a local stimulant when mixed with the whole works. Don’t get me wrong, it can and will cause oral cancer but if one was to really look into statistics, I’m pretty sure smoking cigarettes still ranks much higher. The point here is, how can I have my local stash be allowed to travel with me or be shipped to me into the mainland without having to worry of it being confiscated by authorities? I promise this, I’ll even vacuum pack it, just like the humongous ones I find here in the mainland.
Tik Kapileo
Twining Dr., OK
