Norwegian customs seized 10 tons of khat in 2010, up from less than 4 tons in 2006. [90] After spending a few afternoons searching East Bay with the private investigator, I managed to find a few people who would talk about their experiences with khat. It showed how important it is to get fresh things. Dried khat, which is sometimes used to make tea, could even be dangerous, explained one of the older men with the white beard. In recent years, San Diego, which has a large Somali population, has seen its khat seizures almost eight times. At the national level, the amount of khat seized annually at the country`s ports of entry has increased from 14 tons to 55 tons over the past decade. Ultimately, I spent a few months researching the black market in the San Francisco Bay Area—a shared transit point for drugs transported from container ships to major drug markets in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, and even the East Coast—to understand what drives the obvious khat boom in the Golden State. In Norway, khat is classified as a narcotic and it is illegal to use, sell and possess it. Most of the users are Somali immigrants and khat is smuggled from the Netherlands and the UK.
[89] However, some experts are not convinced that its effects on health and society are so harmless. A report from the World Health Organization found that consumption can lead to increased blood pressure, insomnia, anorexia, constipation, and general malaise. The report also states that khat can be addictive and lead to psychological and social problems. They observed a new peculiarity in this city – everyone chews leaves, like goats chew the club. There is a type of leaf, quite wide and about two fingers long, which is widely used because people would consume these leaves as is; Unlike betel leaves, which require certain spices, these leaves were simply completely stuffed into the mouth and chewed. When people gathered, the remains of these leaves piled up in front of them. When they spit, their saliva was green. I then asked him about it: “What are the benefits of eating these leaves?” To which they replied: “Not at all, it`s just another expense for us because we`ve gotten used to it.” Those who consume these leaves must eat plenty of ghee and honey, otherwise they will get sick. The leaves are known as kad. Khat is legal in Kenya. However, two of its active substances, cathinone and cathine, are classified as Class C.
[57] During a parliamentary debate on legality on 11 January 2012, Mark Lancaster, Conservative MP for Milton Keynes, stated that khat imports into the UK are 10 tonnes per week. [105] This is not really a big surprise, as the Yemeni community remembers the bust of a 61-year-old man from 2001, who grows khat in his garden and sells it in San Francisco`s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood. Recently, California joined 27 other states and the federal government in banning the strongest substance khat, and the District of Columbia is proposing to do the same. When khat leaves are chewed, cathine and cathinone are released and absorbed through the mucous membranes of the mouth as well as through the gastric mucosa. The effect of cathine and cathinone on the reuptake of adrenaline and norepinephrine has been demonstrated in laboratory animals and shows that either of these chemicals causes the body to recycle these neurotransmitters more slowly, resulting in the alertness and insomnia associated with khat use. [41] The effects of the plant have been compared to strong coffee, less addictive cocaine, and (of course) green tea; “Mild euphoria and excitement” are the desired results. In general, khat is consumed fresh because the most potent chemical “cathinone,” a Class I drug in the United States starting in 1993, breaks down within 48 hours, leaving only the cathine sweeter. However, it is sometimes dried and served as tea.
“In my opinion, [such arrests] are false,” said an Ethiopian-born taxi driver who was arrested in November during a khat seizure in Washington, D.C., and spoke on condition of anonymity. “They claim to know more about khat than I do. One of my police sources, who wished to remain anonymous, also mentioned that authorities are often reluctant to do khat business because there is a perceived racial element – that because of the cultural importance of khat, cases prosecuted are seen as needlessly targeting immigrant communities, especially since there are significantly more dangerous drugs that are widely used on the black market. In Oakland, the selling price was about $30 per bag. “Sometimes there is khat and sometimes there is not,” one of the Yemeni traders told me on condition of anonymity for fear of federal prosecution. “And lately, there`s not been much that makes it expensive.” When consumed, the effects of khat peak in about 15 to 30 minutes, but they can last up to 90 minutes. The half-life of khat is three to four hours. Khat is classified as an illegal drug in Slovenia. [93] It takes seven to eight years for the khat plant to reach its full height. Apart from access to the sun and water, khat requires little maintenance.
Groundwater is often pumped from deep wells by diesel engines to irrigate plants, or transported by tanker trucks. The plants are heavily watered from about a month before harvest to make the leaves and stems soft and moist. A good khat plant can be harvested four times a year and provides the farmer with a year`s source of income. The Seattle bust fetched about 450 kilos of khat worth about $315,000. By comparison, seizures of 17,000 kilograms in San Francisco in 2013 would be worth about $11,900,000. The 17 tons represent tens of thousands of individual doses, perhaps hundreds of thousands, depending on the quality and freshness of the drug. After khat was banned in the British protectorate of Aden, the Qāt Commission of Inquiry in Aden concluded: “Qāt is not addictive like opium or hashish, since those who are suddenly deprived of it do not suffer physical consequences.” [53] In the heart of the Ethiopian community, a group of friends gathered in an office after work to chew dried khat leaves before returning home to their wives and children. Sweet tea and sodas stood on a round wooden table between the green hills of the plant, a mild anesthetic grown in the Horn of Africa. In March 2014, the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee announced that it would continue to work to ensure that the UK government does not implement its intention to ban khat. The committee had also recently completed an investigation and a report recommending that the British authorities not ban the plant.
[112] In New Zealand, khat is classified as a Class C drug in the same category as cannabis and codeine. [134] In Israel, a pill called Hagigat (essentially Hebrew for “party khat”) appeared in the club scene. The World Health Organization (WHO) classified it in 1980 as an abusive drug that can cause psychological dependence,[4] although the WHO does not consider khat addiction to be a serious problem. [3] Today, khat is grown in countries like South Africa, Kenya, Mozambique and Somalia, and according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, about 10 million people worldwide chew it every day. In Yemen, khat is a cash crop that consumes much of the country`s agricultural resources. Plants take about seven or eight years to reach their full height and require little maintenance other than a lot of water. “Cocaine comes with this synthetic ferocity that tears your brain apart, and all you want is more fucking cocaine,” he explained. “But khat makes you feel good, euphoric, you`re wide awake — almost a [much] less intense version of cocaine, and it doesn`t have the same intensity or addictive properties as coke.” Khat has a mechanism of action similar to other stimulants such as caffeine, cocaine and even methamphetamine. Two active ingredients, cathine and cathinone, are primarily responsible for the effects of khat.
In the brain, khat increases dopamine levels. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that makes you feel good. Khat also stimulates the release of norepinephrine, which makes you more alert, even a kind of hyper. The drug also acts on other parts of the body by increasing blood pressure and speeding up heart rate. Prolonged, especially intensive, use of khat can cause problems such as gum disease, tooth decay, heart problems, problems with the digestive tract, pain, and tumors. I was sitting with the shotgun on a walk through West Oakland when my driver, a private investigator interested in growing khat for personal use, told me why he preferred this stimulant to hitting. In the Horn of Africa and parts of the Middle East, khat is an integral part of life, often consumed at social gatherings or in the morning before work and by students at exams. Users chew the plant like tobacco or brew it in the form of tea. It creates feelings of euphoria and alertness, which can border on mania and hyperactivity, depending on the diversity and freshness of the plant. It was part of a much larger trial in New York called Operation Somali Express, a criminal conspiracy that unfolded on proportions similar to those of the Goodfellas.
Forty-four people had imported thousands of kilos of khat from Africa, often via Britain and Canada, and the DEA charged members of Seattle`s Somali community with serious crimes that carried up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Dried khat, which is sometimes used to make tea, could even be dangerous, explained one of the older men with the white beard.