Got khat? Paranoia leads to latest state ban on a plant in California

Soon everything will be illegal.

ummm... what?

Plant police in full force...don't you lick the bark of that tree---you may get arrested...man

Sorry, but it's not as benign as a lot of people here are making it out to be. It mightn't do you much harm trying it a few times but long term use leads to psychological problems - it just completely changes peoples' personalities. Anyway, something that can keep you up all night like khat does can't be good for you. And it's seriously addictive.

Oh btw, could this stuff choke out kudzu? I still can't get rid of that stuff...

Laws aren't made to protect the people, duh.
Laws are made so that the people can be controlled. This plant can't be made legal because people just might start growing it themselves. What happens if they grow their own? It gets streamlined, new genetic strains come out, and soon its something that can actually do some real good for you. If the Fed doesn't get the thumbscrews on now, how could they ever hope to profit from future strains? Its all about the money, and if there's any chance of this stuff becoming profitable, then they want the corner market.
Nevermind the fact that a happy populace is a dangerous one in terms of being aware of oppression. If they're kept in fear and paranoia, they wont notice their civil liberties being stripped away...

What a waste of time. Don't we have better things to ban?

I tried some khat in Somaliland, a breakaway republic in the Northwest of Somalia. The local men love it and it forms the base of their economy and for much of the socializing outside of the mosque. You can see the story at:

http://current.com/items/88855208/the_breakaway_republic_of_somalia.htm

In my experience, while the buzz is pretty mild the effects last for a long time (way past the point of fun) and the leaves can ruin your gums. And it is definitely not worth the hangover.

But should it be made illegal? That just seems silly.

Sounds retarded and a waste of otherwise valuable time and resources as usual.

So it's legal in the ridiculously ultra-strict Arab countries but not here in the "anything goes" U.S.?

Freedom my ass.

We won't even get into the comparisons with what tobacco does to the population. I just got my roomamate to quite smoking after 5+ years, and to think that that lethal addiction is advertised, promoted, and encouraged while other seemingly trivial plants of nature are demonized just goes to show that man is the real demon.

Create laws that prevent abuse and corruption, and allow things to be licensed and controlled. With the way the government is running the quality of life in this country into the ground, marijuana is going to have to be legalized for the purposes of escapism.

I've often chewed qat in Kenya - high quality grown in Meru - so I can tell you that this is much ado about nothing except a lot of chinwag between highly relaxed people, and damaged teeth and gums.

Are you kidding? Sociable, relaxed, addictive.... Sounds like a couple mainstream chemicals to me. Both of which make you look suuuuper sexy ;)

Khat was never going to catch on.

If the effect is like drinking coffee...why is it illegal?!

Thats so dumb. Hey lets put a ban on politicians running our lives?

This isn't a democracy anymore.

Another one of nature's harmless plants is going to be made illegal? What kind of backwards ass government are we living in.

"Thus the plant remains in a legal gray area. Kinda like pot." that definitely hasn't been my experience!

yeah, you have a point. i can't really imagine that California, with its public hypersensititve to image and health, picking up the habit of chewing plants that make their teeth ugly and doesnt even get them the quick high of plenty of less labor intensive drugs.

But I'm wondering if there are any prescription drugs that are synthetic versions of the active chemicals in khat. Because I could see that being a driving force strong enough to get lobyists excited. Khat has kind of an upper effect, doesn't it? And in our our coffee addicted nation, one more "medicine" that could make pharma companies cash from people who will pay for a pill that gives you that extra hour of productivity, its better for the corporations if the natural substance is banned and then made available through patented drugs.

Wait wait wait. I eat lots of leafy greens that are less than 24 hours old. My teeth are fine.

Does that sound familiar? Does it remind you of our first marijuana laws, primarily aimed at a growing Hispanic community in the 1930s? We have now have a law banning another plant for obscure reasons. No one in their right mind could think that a khat chewing craze will take over our country.

There is a pill known as hagigat (more or less Hebrew for “party khat”) that's showed up on the Israeli party scene and a U.S. rave scene. That goes to show anyone can refine plant essences. The effects of this particular party pill would make our country's meth heads laugh. Its potency doesn't compare with the cocaine, methamphetamine, and other nasty drugs on the list.

Many experts challenge the assertion that khat, also called African Tea or salad, is a problem. Bob Burrows, a professor of Middle East politics at the University of Washington, recently told the press, “No one except the U.S. government asserts khat is particularly addictive.” A 2006 World Health Organization study assesses khat's impact as “quite modest,” and concludes that it doesn't merit international control.

In a recent interview, Eric Sterling, president of the nonprofit Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, said, “My understanding of the use of khat is that it should be a very low priority for federal law enforcement. I think the cases are largely a waste of very precious federal criminal justice resources.”

How has this plant, legal in the majority of Western countries, become so feared in 15 years since Somali immigrants first came to the U.S. to escape the ravages of their war-torn country?

As It Stands, I think if tobacco and coffee were newly discovered and brought to us by immigrants, they'd get banned by the DEA.

note from author

Dale Gieringer wrote:
Dave Stancliff's jibes at California's ban on khat are well taken, but he is mistaken on the origins of the marijuana laws. California first banned cannabis in 1913, not the 1930s, out of concern that "Hindoos" would spread the use of "Indian hemp" to whites. Since being banned, its use has spread from a mere handful to millions of Californians - striking testimony to the futility of prohibition laws in preventing drug use.

Thanks for the input. I've put a link here of the Timeline on marijuana illegality. As you can see, I was correct about the Hispanic's use causing the laws against pot.

http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/mj005.htm