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Khatman

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  1. Khatman

    Legality of Catha edulis in Western Australia

    Creach said "Nice work." Thanks, although it wasn't me who did it. I haven't visited Shaman Australis recently, but I thought you guys might find this information useful. Creach – I think you’re correct when you say that a literal reading of the law says that any plant containing a prohibited drug is a prohibited plant, end of story. That is exactly what my lawyer friend said. However last time I checked the net you could get a licence to import Khat into Australia. So the law would appear to be contradictory. So as you say Torsten - the law is only as good as it is applied and tested. No trials involving Khat use/supply have happened yet. I get the impression that it comes down to personal intent. If you cultivate Khat as an ornamental, botanical curiosity or even for personal use, your will probably be left alone. Try selling fresh cut bunches and then you will raise alarm bells. My final though – why do ‘they’ have to make every thing fun illegal!?!
  2. Hi guys, I asked a lawyer friend of mine to clarify the legal status of Khat in Western Australia. Very simply – according to the Misuse of Drugs Act, Khat itself is not illegal, but Cathinone is a prohibited substance and according to the law if Cathinone can be derived from a plant then the plant is prohibited. I don't know what implications this has in regards to growing, selling or using Khat. The chain of legislation is: • Section 1 Misuse of Drugs Act says the Act applies to “prohibited drugs” and “prohibited plants.” • Section 4 Misuse of Drugs Act says prohibited drugs are “drugs of addiction” and “specified drugs” and the drugs listed in Schedule 1. • Section 1 Misuse of Drugs Act says “drugs of addiction” is defined in section 5 of the Poisons Act • Section 5 Poisons Act says “drugs of addiction” are listed in Schedule 8 and 9 of the Poisons Act. • Schedule 8 and 9 of the Poisons Act list a number of substances. They also say that they also include everything listed in the SUSDP (Standard for the Uniform Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons). It is prepared by the National Drugs and Poisons Schedules Committee. You can’t get this online, you have to buy it. • "Cathinone" is in Schedule 9 of the SUSDP. • If it is accepted that cathinone is a prohibited drug then the plant it comes from is a “prohibited plant.” Prohibited plant is defined in section 5 Poisons Act as including “any plant from which a drug of addiction may be obtained, derived or manufactured.” So if you can obtain/derive/manufacture cahthinone from a plant, and cathinone is a prohibited drug, the plant it comes from is a prohibited plant. The key to it all is the SUSDP, which you can’t get online, the committee that writes it charges $85 a copy and it gets updated several times a year so to find out if something is/was prohibited at a particular time you need the list as it was at that time.
  3. Khatman

    The legality of Catha edulis in WA

    Well, I appreciate the compliment but I probably could have put more effort into my research. One of the documents I looked at was the Khat information sheet put out by the Therapeutic Goods Administration at http://www.tga.gov.au/import/khatinfo.htm. The SUSDP available on the same site but I didn't look at it since it costs $20 to get a copy. The other acts can be found at http://www.austlii.edu.au/databases.html#wa and http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/statutes/swans.nsf. I know that Khat can cause mental illness. Although I got the impression that it is pretty rare - it tends to be in people who are predisposed to mental illness and then only after abuse.
  4. I believe that around about fifty years ago people brought ‘this pretty tree’ from the eastern states to WA and gave cuttings to friends. In the older suburbs of Perth Khat now grows in the front yards of a few peoples houses. In Perth we now have a growing community of African migrants who have discovered these trees and delight in stripping them bare. I have an agriculture degree and know a potential market when I see it. As a khat user myself I have being raising seedlings and I have been thinking about selling plants to these migrants. I don’t see a major moral problem with this since all the published journal articles suggest the negative health effects are minimal. However after seeing a news paper article a few weeks back about two men being arrested in for harvesting khat I started to wonder about its legality in WA (it turns out it was for trespassing). I have looked in the past and never found anything that said khat was illegal. So I decided I would look into it in more detail. I first went to the Prohibited Plants and Prohibited Substances list. Catha edulis is not listed as a prohibited plant and cathinone is not listed as a prohibited substance. Khat does contain ephedrine and that is a controlled substance, however the amount present is below the legal limit. I also checked the Declared Weed list and khat is not there either. Via email I then contacted the WA Health Department and the Drub Advisory Centre and they weren’t too helpful. They simply directed me to internet documents about Khat which don’t say anything about it being illegal. It helps to have friends in useful places when you do this type of thing. I have relative who has just started working with the WA Drug Squad. I contacted them and was assured verbally that Khat is not illegal. It would have preferred it in writing but a verbal assurance will have to do. So based on that I think it is safe to say that Khat is not illegal in WA. Finally though - I also have mate who is lawyer who I spoke with on the weekend. They have heard rumours that the powers that be are thinking about classing Khat as a poison! I am not sure if that is true because it doesn’t sound right, how is Khat a poison!?! However if the West African community is able to lodge some type of protest claiming Khat is important for cultural reasons we might have a case for halting any kind of ban. I am looking into this. If there any other WA people who can offer any advice here that would be appreciated. Cheers
  5. You legend, cheers mate! I want the narrow leaf variant because of the reportedly superior taste and higher content of cathinone. However is it worth getting the green and white strains as well? What are their merits? it would be interesting to see how they grow here. I have received Khat cuttings from the Fruit Spirit Botanic Garden as bare rooted cuttings wrapped in plastic bags and mailed in a cardboard box. They survived and I had no trouble with quarantine. I am obviously still concerned about your plants getting here. How will you send them?
  6. Hi guys, I finally got around to ordering the green and narrow leaf strains of Khat from Shaman Australis, which i have been meaning to do for several months. Unfortunatley there don't appear to be any available. Can any one help me out with seed/cuttings? All I can offer in exchange is money.
  7. Khatman

    How to make khatcuttings

    People may also be interested in the following: Long-term feeding effects of Catha edulis leaves on blood constituents in animals Phytomedicine Volume 11, Issues 7-8 , 25 November 2004, Pages 639-644 M. Al-Haboria, , and M. Al-Mamaryb "The common adverse effects of Khat use include insomnia, anorexia, hyperthermia, mydriasis and endocrinological disturbances (Nencini et al., 1983; Brenneisen et al., 1990). The detrimental effects of the active principle of Khat in men and animals have been described (Kalix and Khan, 1984), and its mutagenic activity has been demonstrated in bacteria and rodent cells (Hannan et al., 1985; Qureshi et al., 1988) and recently in the exfoliated cells of volunteers who chewed Khat on a regular basis (Kassie et al., 2001). Khat-induced analgesia has also been reported (Connor et al., 2000), although it is not known whether the mechanism is central or peripheral. Acute autonomic responses, such as elevated blood pressure and tachycardia, have been reported (Duke, 1985; Wilder et al., 1994)." "A clinical trial has shown a delay in the gastric emptying period after Khat chewing (Heymann et al., 1995), and Khat is reported to produce constipation and antispasmodic action in whole mice and on isolated guinea pig ileum (Makonnen, 2000). In addition, the high tannin content of leaves has been suggested to be responsible for the observed gastritis (Halbach, 1972) and the apparently high prevalence of esophageal carcinoma in Yemen (Drake, 1988; Gunaid et al., 1995). Recently, the toxicological effects of C. edulis leaves, both short- and long-term, have been reported (Al-Mamary et al., 2002; Al-Habori et al., 2002) in an animal model. Intragastric administration of Khat or its alkaloid fraction induced changes in free-radical metabolizing enzyme activities (Al-Qirim et al., 2002)." If you go to Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/schhp?hl=en&lr=&q=&btnG=Search) and look up health effects of khat there is lots of other literature.
  8. Khatman

    How to make khatcuttings

    I recommend layering. Knick the base of each stem with a sharp knife, cut diagonally about half way into the stem. Rub the cut with rooting hormone, which you can get from a nursery. Then dump potting mix around the base of the plant. The trick with taking cuttings is patience. I have screwed up many-a-cutting by digging it up to check for roots. At least one month is probably a good time to wait.
  9. Khatman

    A new way of using Khat?

    Sorry, I just picked the figure of 10 years arbitrarily. Although i would be surprised if it took less than 3 or 4 years for Khat to get to a harvestable size. I notice you are in Byron Bay, Torsten. Notice that we are in Perth, our soil is shitter and we get all our rain at the time of year Khat needs it the least.
  10. Khatman

    A new way of using Khat?

    You will have to wait a while, i have only been growing Khat my self for a two years. I have two cuttings and my plants still haven't got enough for us to use. Recently we decided that if it will take 1 plant 10 years to produce enough to use regularly it would take 10 plants 1 year. I don't know if this is logical or true but we have recently taken about twenty cuttings and suckers and planted them. I would be interested to know how well Khat will grow in Demark, WA. Are you growing any? I am not sure if it will be too cold for them down there.
  11. Khatman

    A new way of using Khat?

    I think the taste problem is caused by tannins (I have done research into tannins for my PhD). We did try drinking the fresh fluid before letting it settle but it still tasted bad and it also makes your shit go green and fibrous. I don’t think it is actually bad for you, it probably actually gives you a good dose of fiber and antioxidants, but it is still unpleasant. I think a lot of the tannins may be bound to the fiber and if you let the solution settle I think most of the tannins will be removed. While I have the chance - We are thinking of buying some Khat seed or seedlings from Shaman Australis. What varieties of Khat are the best (both in terms of chemical content and ease of cultivation)?
  12. Khatman

    A new way of using Khat?

    My mate thinks the Khat trees we harvest taste fine where as i can't stand them. So is suspect individual preference comes into it. Although I also suspect that there are varieties that taste better as well. I don't believe drinking it as "Khat Punch" causes many problems in terms of degradation in your stomach, it still has quite a good effect.
  13. Khatman

    A new way of using Khat?

    I was warned about not posting this because of the potential illegality of Khat. As far as I know from my research on government websites Khat is NOT illegal in Western Australia, where I am. I was shown several Khat trees near to where I work. I tried some Khat and found the effects enjoyable but there was a major problem - I also found the taste of Khat repulsive! After a few sessions I couldn’t bear to even smell it. I think you can get less bitter varieties but I didn’t have access to them. I tried using very young leaves or dunking them in honey but with no luck. Now, the action of chewing Khat manually breaks down cells and dissolves the active chemicals in relatively cool saliva. It occurred to us that grinding the leaves in a blender might do the same thing. We did some experimenting and developed the following method. I'd like to know if others have come up with this method independently: 1) Take two large shopping bags of Khat leaves. 2) On the bush leaves get dirty so rinse the leaves in a bucket of COOL water. 3) Stuff a blender half full of leaves and cover the leaves in COLD water from the fridge (you will need to chill down a few bottles) and add half a lemon (we do this because apparently the active chemicals are more soluble and stable in an acidic solution). 4) Blend the leaves on high speed for a minute or two (we assume that a good long blend will thoroughly break down the cells and release the chemicals). 5) Pour the blended mixture into a fine metal kitchen sieve (you will need to mush in through with your hands) discard the coarse leaf material and catch the juice in a bucket. You will now have an opaque green fluid. 6) Place the fluid in the fridge for one or two hours and the green stuff will settle out leaving a clear brown fluid on top. Siphon the brown fluid off into a new container. Wehave tried mixing this fluid 50:50 with Ginger Ale and fruit juice, as well as with a small splash of lemonade and cordial. The resulting drinks are actually not too bad, although it is a bit of an acquired taste. It typically takes about 5 or 6 large glasses to get a good effect. If is a bit of a long process but it is definitely worth the effort!
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