Khat

[Mid]

'Khat, qat, gat or Sallaa (Catha edulis, family Celastraceae; pronounced /ˈkɑːt/, kaht; Arabic: قات qāt; Hebrew: קאת, qat; Somali: qaad) is a flowering plant native to tropical East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

Khat contains the alkaloid called cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant which is said to cause excitement, loss of appetite, and euphoria.

In 1980, the World Health Organization classified khat as a drug of abuse that can produce mild to moderate psychological dependence (less than tobacco or alcohol) [1].

The plant has been targeted by anti-drug organizations like the DEA.[2]

It is a controlled or illegal substance in many countries, but is legal for sale and production in many others.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Khat

[Mid]

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[Bung]

I tried something like that in Kenya which all the locals were into. It was the bark of some shrub and I chewed on a mouthful for an hour and would have got a better buzz if I went and had an espresso.

[Mid]

I came across it in Djibouti , comes in daily on the plane from Eritrea and it's true that once it hits the streets the days work is done .

[FarangRed]

Is the similar to the stuff in India? gobbing it out all over the place dirty sods

[Davis Knowlton]

^I've never seen khat here in the Philippines, but they must have it hidden somewhere as most of the population sits around all day staring vacantly into space. The stuff they are spitting all over India is betel nut. See multiple Somtomslap posts on the subject - granny is a HUGE fan.

[larvidchr]

It's illegal back home in Denmark, but the Somali immigrants comes driving up through Europe in cars stuffed to the brink with the stuff, apparently they just can't do without it, trying to police it seems a bit of a waste of time and effort since no one else is interested in munching on it apart from those few immigrants, and I suppose they could get just as "high" taking a few paracetamol washed down with a quick beer.

[good2bhappy]

Heard of it first from an Eritrean

[FarangRed]

A coroner has recorded a verdict of accidental death on a Northampton woman who may have jumped from a window after chewing the herbal stimulant, khat.
The inquest heard the body of Halima Hassan, 31, was found in the grounds of flats in Northampton in May 2009.
She had been chewing khat, an amphetamine-like stimulant popular in east Africa, shortly before her death.
Northamptonshire coroner Anne Pember said: "I don't think there was any intention on her part to end her life."
Her husband found her outside their friend's flat after she disappeared from the room.
The court heard Mrs Hassan died of multiple injuries consistent with a fall and there was no suggestion another person had been involved.
'Psychotic symptoms' A report from pathologist Dr Elizabeth Turk said a possible explanation for a jump from a window may have been khat.
Khat can cause excitement, euphoria and hyperactivity, the inquest heard.
On rare occasions it can also cause psychotic symptoms including paranoid delusions.
Dr Turk said khat toxicity had neither directly caused nor directly contributed to the cause of death but added: "Psychotic symptoms or hallucinations could be a possible explanation for a jump out of a window."
The court heard Mrs Hassan, of Dover Court, suffered mental health problems.
Mrs Hassan's husband, Asad Mohamed, told the inquest his wife chewed two bundles of khat two to four times a week.
She had been chewing khat with a friend at a flat at St Katherine's Court on 31 May, and when Mr Mohamed returned from the bathroom he could not find her and discovered her body outside.
Mrs Pember said: "We heard that she had been chewing khat and I think that this may have affected how she came to be found on the ground outside St Katherine's Court."

[Mid]

fok , dozey locals I saw on the stuff wouldn't have had the energy , seemed to be a very poor stimulant if indeed it was one at all ?

[ENT]

Chewed on the stuff (a dried leaf) while having a beer at the Gecko bar on Soi Rambutri,
opposite Wat Chana Songkran Bangkok a couple of yeas ago.

A Muslim gent sat down next to me, wanting a shot of whiskey!
Odd, I know, but that's what happened.

Anyway, I definitely got higher than the Sangsom could take me!
The muslim chap went right off his head, feked off with the rest of my bottle of Sangsom, the little cwnt!

Betel nut, (wrongly named) is in fact the areca nut.
Prime production area is Assam, Meghalaya, India.

The betel leaf (piper betel) is also native to India and can be found all the way into the Pacific, transported there, by pre-Maori travellers (Vedics of the Ashoka Mauria empire).

I use several herbs pharmalogically, useful stuffs!

Khat is speed, so is ephedra, a tumble weed of central Asia, used by the Tocharian's for 4,000 years or so.

Piper betel also has a speed effect.

Natural and free.

(Until the US morality thought control wankers wage another war on drugs)

[sabang]

Betel nut, Kava root, Qat (or khat, or whatever). No big deal, all very mild narcotics.
Why did we have to end up with tobacco? I'd prefer to be addicted to kava myself. Curse Sir Walter Raleigh.

[ENT]

Kava, betel leaf and areca nut is available in several Muslim food outlets in NZ.

So is a native variety of piper, in the bush.

Of course there are poppies (opiate), Kowhai seeds (halucinogen), trichosarius cactus (halucinogen), morning glory seeds (halucinogen) and ganja (halucinogen) all fairly easily available,... but shhhh!.

[sabang]

One of the most dangerous narcotics of all is widely available, because it thrives in most climates given a bit of water- the datura lily. It grows like wildfire here in Thailand. Awful, horrifying stuff by all accounts.

[kermit]

Awful, horrifying stuff by all accounts.

Indeed. Wise to fast for 24 hours before taking. Best made into a tea and slowly sipped.

[Norton]

Allahu Akbar! Chill out dude.

[ENT]

^^ ^That big white trumpet shaped flower, grows on a tree?

If it's the same one that grows in the Pacific, it's total zombie juice, don't go near it!

There's another horrible one called tutu or "tute", cattle eat it and plop over dead.

I heard that some Maori warriors used it once long ago, can't understand why.

One chap I knew took an egg-cup full of the boiled plant juice.
In 20 mins his heart had nearly stopped, so we rushed him to hospital where he got pumped out.

He definitely was not ever the same again, a bit slow and quiet.

[sabang]

Indeed. Wise to fast for 24 hours before taking. Best made into a tea and slowly sipped.

No thanks mate. I'm no wowser, but that stuff- along with heroin & PCP- scares the hell out of me.

[ENT]

^ And rightly so!

[rawlins]

Tried Qat when I was working in Yemen once. Didn't really have any effect on me as I gave up too early due to it feeling like I was chewing a hedge.

All the locals got high on it every day and they sold big bunches of it in the markets.

[khmen]

Chewed on the stuff (a dried leaf) while having a beer at the Gecko bar on Soi Rambutri, opposite Wat Chana Songkran Bangkok a couple of yeas ago.

You sure that wasn't Krathom? Probably more likely in Thailand than qat, unless that's an Arab/African area of course.

[ENT]

Chewed on the stuff (a dried leaf) while having a beer at the Gecko bar on Soi Rambutri, opposite Wat Chana Songkran Bangkok a couple of yeas ago.

You sure that wasn't Krathom? Probably more likely in Thailand than qat, unless that's an Arab/African area of course.

Could have been, not ever having chewed on either before.

I quite enjoyed it, must check it out again, for scientific purposes, obviously.

[khmen]

Obviously!

Careful though, I think Krathawm, the leaves of the Mitragnya speciosa plant which grows wild in Thailand, in its dried form is as illegal as any other drug in Thailand.

Erowid Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) Vault

[ENT]

I'll be careful mate.

[Mid]

Dutch ban stimulant khat
(AFP) – 19 hours ago

THE HAGUE — The Dutch government Tuesday banned the use of khat, a leaf native to East Africa chewed for its stimulant properties mainly by the Netherlands' sizeable Somali community.

"The drug khat is banned," the Dutch Immigration, Health and Justice departments said in a joint statement.

Khat is grown in the Horn of Africa and has for centuries been chewed by users in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen.

"The problem lies especially within the Somali community, which is much larger than the Kenyan or Yemeni communities within our country," immigration department spokesman Frank Wassenaar told AFP, adding there were about 27,000 Somalis living in the Netherlands.

"If taken in moderation there are no major problems, but an investigation showed it to be problematic among some 10 percent of khat users," leading to health and social issues, added the statement.

An independent report commissioned by the Dutch government has cited noise, littering and groups of men who "roam the streets perceived as threatening", as some of the effects.

With high unemployment and low education levels, the Dutch Somali community was "late" in terms of integration, the report said.

Imported legally via Amsterdam's Schiphol airport four times a week, khat is distributed throughout the Netherlands but also in Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, it added.

Around 843 tonnes of khat, worth a minimum 14 million euros (U$18 million) passed through Schiphol in 2010, up from 714 tonnes in 2009 and 693 tonnes in 2008.

Britain and the Netherlands currently allow the import, trade and consumption of khat, according to a European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction letter of July last year entitled "Drugs in focus."

Fifteen of the European Union's 27 states and Norway list khat as an illegal narcotic, while in the other EU countries, the plant was not subjected to any controls, the EMCDDA letter said.

Although known for its relatively tolerant policy towards soft drugs, the Netherlands has recently taken steps to tighten up policies.

Non-Dutch residents will be banned from cannabis-selling coffee shops in the south of the country from May 1.

The ban is due to come into force in the rest of the Netherlands from next year.

Though technically illegal, the Netherlands decriminalised the possession of less than five grammes (0.18 ounce) of cannabis in 1976 under a so-called "tolerance" policy.

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