Name: Khat (Catha edulis)
Otherwise known as: Qat, Chat, Bushman’s Tea
Habitat: An evergreen shrub member of the Celastraceae family growing up to 15m in arid soil and native to East Africa and Arabia. The plant is drought resistant and grows from a central trunk with spindly stems that contain deep green, red veined, elliptical leaves that sprout clusters of white flowers from the axils. Khat is narcotic and regular consumption leads to addiction.
What does it do: Khat, which features prominently in the culture of a number of East African and Arabic countries, contains a number of alkaloids, the principal ones being cathine, cathinone, which is similar in action as amphetamine, and celastrin. Their presence makes the plant astringent and a cerebral stimulant. The World Health Organisation and the DEA of the United States declared the plant a health hazard and its sale is banned in most of the western world with the exception of the United Kingdom, where it is mostly consumed by Somali immigrants. Tea can be made from Khat, but it is mainly taken in the form of a quid that is chewed for long periods, usually after the midday meal. In Yemen, it is not uncommon for long term users to consume as much as a kilo a day.
Khat is believed to be the plant referred to in the ancient Egyptian Ebers Papyrus as ‘The Plant’ that featured in a number of religious ceremonies, ingestion of which was thought to lead to heightened spiritual awareness. It has been used for centuries throughout the Islamic world by holy men as an aid to concentration and prolonged worship. It acts on the central nervous system and ‘elevates the mood and stimulates the mind’ according to Arabic scholars.
Khat has an accumulative effect, it takes some time before any sensation can be detected, but regular use is said to lead to a state of euphoria coupled with extra energy, alertness, durability and excitement; some claims are made for its ability to enhance the male libido. While it is used by African medicine men to treat diarrhoea, fatigue, diabetes, asthma and sexually transmitted disease, its long term use leads to addiction, oesophagitis, depression, paranoia, hypertension and insomnia.
Khat production has proved highly beneficial to Ethiopian farmers that are achieving annual sales at home and abroad of a figure in excess of $60 million although their authorities are concerned about wide-spread use by youth.
A recent interesting event relating to the plant is the sale on the internet and in major European cities of the drug Methadrone (Meow), which contains the alkaloid cathinone. Users claim it to be like a combination of ecstasy and cocaine. The drug has slipped below the regulatory radar and is giving rise to serious concern by the health authorities and the police.
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