tagged w/ khat
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Khat bundle
The khat plant, Catha edulis, has been chewed by east Africans for hundreds of years and plays a large part in the social lives of both men and women.
It is banned across America, Canada and most of Europe, but remains legal in Britain.
Khat user Steve [not his real name] is a philosophy student. He is one of an increasing number of students who are taking up the habit.
Steve, who is 22, comes from a good middle-class family and in a slightly apologetic tone he tells me he was drawn to the leaves because they looked harmless.
"They looked really natural, not like a normal drug and they were all wrapped up in this really shiny banana leaf."
Crossing divides
Chewing khat according to those who do it, gives them a mellow high. Some describe it as a cross between cannabis and cocaine.
"You're really alert," says Steve, "but at the same time you have a bit of the feeling you have on cannabis... not hallucinations but going that sort of way."
In Somalia, khat is popular among taxi drivers and farm workers - people who have to stay alert while the rest of us are tucked up in bed.
In the UK, some students are using it for the same reasons, saying it helps them stay up all night studying.
It is relatively easy to get, and it's cheap too - your average bundle costs about £3 ($.4.20).
When I went in search of some for this piece, I was pointed in the direction of an Ethiopian butchers in north London.
Khat's appeal is spreading beyond the Somali community
They had sold out, but assured me they were expecting a fresh batch to be delivered in a couple of days.
The woman behind the counter suggested I try down the road.
Next stop and sure enough there it was, nestled innocently between the cucumbers and courgettes.
"Aren't you worried about selling it," I ask.
"No, why should I be?" The store owner asks, with a slightly bemused look on his face.
"Its legal, we pay taxes and people want to buy it, so I sell it."
Controversial status
But there growing concern that khat houses are trying to appeal more to younger users.
And that according to Asha, a teenager we meet at a community centre in east London, is setting a dangerous precedent.
"I see so many kids who...start because they just want to try it, but then they end up going there 24/7," he says.
"I know [people who] have ended up dropping out of college because they've been up chewing all night and can't get out of bed. Plus you get people selling other harder drugs in there."Khat bundle
The khat plant, Catha edulis, has been chewed by east Africans for... more
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You better not get caught chewing khat (rhymes with pot) in California.
Last year our governor signed an act to amend the California Health and Safety Code relating to controlled substances. He may have saved you from an uncontrollable urge to eat the fresh leaves of an evergreen shrub that might make you feel social and able to relax.
If you haven't heard of khat it's time to get up to speed. It's on the state misdemeanor list, as of last September. Khat leaves and stems can be chewed or made into a tea.
The “flower of paradise,” one of many nicknames the Arabs use for it, grows in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Khat is legal there. Chewing the emerald leaves of the catha edulis plant reportedly acts as a mild stimulant and makes a person become sociable.
In Yemen, where legend says the first catha edulis bush was brought from Ethiopia by a Sufi mystic in 1429, roughly two-thirds of the arable land is devoted to khat plantations. It is also grown in Kenya and the upper highlands of Somalia.
Khat is not specifically listed in any schedule in the United States. The federal government appears to be treating khat as equivalent to cathinone, one of its chemical constituents, according to a recent U.S. Federal Legal Summary. Cathinone is Schedule I, illegal to manufacture, buy, possess, or distribute (sell, trade or give) without a Drug Enforcement Agency license.
The DEA considers khat “an illegal plant,” but it's important to know that the DEA's views are not law and they do not have the force of law. In two entries in the Federal Register, the DEA mentions khat and their view of its legal status, but in the scheduling of both cathine and cathinone, the DEA chose not to list the plant itself. Thus the plant remains in a legal gray area. Kinda like pot.
Why, you may wonder, is California jumping on the “ban-wagon,” along with 27 other states and the federal government, to make this shrub illegal? Have there been numerous cases of the general public use and abuse? Have crazed khat-heads robbed ATMs to get money for their habit?
No. Khat became an issue because of Somali immigrants to the United States who brought their customs with them. Chewing khat has been acceptable in their culture for a thousand years.
As the Somali population grew, so did the use of bitter-tasting khat. The argument in the U.S. is that it's an addictive habit that the mainstream public may pick up. I find it a stretch of my imagination to see Americans chewing the stuff (it takes hours to work) to get a buzz comparable to the effects of drinking coffee.
Nor can I imagine chewing raw leaves (they have to be 24-hours fresh to work) will ever be popular with people who value their teeth. While in Vietnam, I saw men and women who chewed both beetle nut and khat. Beetle nut made the whole mouth dark red and rotted, and the khat made the teeth brittle and brown with decay.
Reportedly, law enforcement is concerned that a stronger and more portable form of khat could spread from the large Somali immigrant communities like in San Diego and Washington, D.C., and pollute the heartland.You better not get caught chewing khat (rhymes with pot) in California.
Last year... more
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Many people in Yemen spend their days chewing khat, a leaf with narcotic properties. But as food prices rise around the Middle East, the destructive nature of khat farming is forcing more and more Yemenis into poverty and malnutrition. Many people in Yemen spend their days chewing khat, a leaf with narcotic properties.... more
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Experiential pod about the effects of Khat -- a legal drug traditionally used by some members of the Somali community in the U.K.Experiential pod about the effects of Khat -- a legal drug traditionally used by some... more
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