Popular names ‘Qat’, ‘Qaat’, ‘Gaat’, ‘Miraa’
The khat plant contains stimulant drugs (active ingredients are ‘cathinone’-type chemicals), which act in a similar to amphetamine. It is grown mainly in Northeastern Africa, e.g. Yemen.
Khat is an East African shrub (Catha Edulis) that can grow to a height of 20 metres and is often grown alongside coffee in the highlands of Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen.
The soft stems, bark and leaves (various shades of red, purple and green) of the plant contain the active ingredients, cathinone, cathine, cathidine, norpseudoephedrine and edulin. The cathinone bio-degrades easily rendering it practically useless a couple of days after harvest. Because of this, khat was flown into the UK at least five days a week when it was legal. According to a 2005 report by the Home Office, some 5-7 tons a day were entering the UK, but much of it was then sent on to the US.
Khat is a stimulant, which acts on neurotransmitters in the brain and brain stem in a similar fashion to amphetamine. The drug is used by chewing or ‘stored’ in the cheeks and orally absorbed into the blood thru the vessels in the mouth. This provides a stimulant effect with a euphoric high accompanied by a sensation down the spine and through the body. It is perhaps for this reason that khat is wrongly termed a narcotic, which it is not (narcos is Greek for sleep.).
An ‘average’ user may chew one or two bundles per session.
It can cause excessive sleepiness and depression.
Excessive use is thought to have harmful effects on health but this has not been properly researched.
Khat are usually green but other parts of the plant can be used and are various shades of red and purple as well.
Chewed: The leaves of the khat plant are chewed or ‘stored’ in the cheeks where the drug is orally absorbed into the blood.
An ‘average’ user may chew one or two bundles per session. Khat use is a heavily social activity, with teas and resting cushions and disposal bowls typically provided.
The primary pharmacologically active agents (metabolites) in khat are cathinone and cathine (dextro-norpseudoephedrine). These are both central nervous system (CNS) stimulants, but have a considerably lower potency than amphetamine, one of the best known CNS stimulants. The effects of khat are broadly similar to amphetamines, in that it also produces an increase in levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine (adrenaline and noradrenaline, respectively) and serotonin.
Due to the nature of the molecular structure of the active metabolites in khat and the route of administration, the release of these transmitters is slow.
It is predominantly these cathinones in khat that provide the user with the sought after euphoric and stimulating effects.
Khat is not currently regarded as a physical dependence-forming substance. The cathinones it contains are not known to cause any long-term harm. However prolonged use may lead to psychological dependence (the user feels they need to keep taking it).
Khat has been known in Yemen for at least 1,500 years, to where it was probably introduced from Ethiopia, although this is uncertain. Arabic medical books from at least the 11th century record its healing properties and scarcity. The renowned strength and stamina of Ethiopian warriors is often attributed to their use of khat.
The use of khat spread to the Jewish population in Yemen, and the Swedish botanist Pehr Forsskal gave the first account of its use to European audiences in 1763.
Today, the use of khat is considered to be widespread in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. Communities of these nations living in London have brought much of their cultural heritage with them, and the chewing of khat in communal centres (sometimes known as ‘Somali pubs’) is commonplace. Until July 2013, khat was a legal substance and there was no restriction on its import.
In practice maximum sentences are rarely used, for more detailed and accurate information go to our sentencing page.
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