Couple face khat drug possession charges

[cisumevil]

F#$K this country is getting worse, looks like we will have to stick to the meth from the local dealers!!

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21...5008620,00.html

A THORNLIE man and his wife are facing drug possession charges after allegedly being caught in possession of leaves from an exotic khat tree.

Cannington Detectives identified three Australia Post parcels, which contained 7.5 kg of khat leaf, a listed prohibited drug which contains cathinone .

It is not illegal to grow the trees, which are found in Perth, but it is illegal to possess the leaves for use as a drug.

Khat also contains cathine, which is listed as being a poison and is restricted to prescription or supply by a medical practitioner.

Detectives searched the couple’s home after the packages were delivered and allegedly found another 25kg of khat leaf and cash.

The 40-year-old male occupant and his 37-year-old wife were charged with possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply and attempting to possess the drug to sell or supply.

They are due to appear in Armadale Magistrates Court tomorrow.

Hope it's no one we know!

[naja naja]

Thats fuct up shit. But I'm guessing it was import, not within Oz. Just a guess though. Probably just persecuting another minority.

[C_T]

Thats a serious amount of leaf!!! Was asking for trouble.

[naja naja]

Maybe they were planning on extracted that ultra potent new street drug khatatonic,

[Qhorakuna tantani]

So does the khat importation permit no longer exist? There is (or used to be) a permit analogous to the kava permit, for importing khat. You could probably get it fairly fresh if you could find somewhere that'd be able to send it express lol

[cisumevil]

November 18, 2009 01:02pm

A COUPLE who were allegedly selling the leaves of a common and legally grown plant will face drug charges in a West Australian court.

Police say the 40-year-old man and his 37-year-old wife, from Thornlie in Perth's east, were caught with more than 30kg of khat after a search of their home this week.

Officers raided the home after the discovery of 7.5kg of khat in three parcels being sent to the couple by post.

Another 25kg of the plant was found in the home, along with an amount of cash, police spokesman Sergeant Greg Lambert said.

Sgt Lambert said that while growing khat in Australia was legal, removing and using the leaves was not.

He said the plant, which is chewed as a stimulant in many areas of eastern Africa, is common in Perth, particularly in the western suburbs.

"It grows legally, but cultivating its leaves is illegal," Sgt Lambert.

"We have dealt with quite a few cases of trespass where people have scaled fences or gone onto properties to try to grab the plant's leaves."

He said the Thornlie case was unusual because of the large amount involved.

Both of the accused have been charged with attempting to possess a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply, possession with intent to sell or supply and unlawful possession.

They were bailed to appear in Armadale Magistrates Court on December 3.

Wikipedia says khat is native to east Africa and the Arabian peninsula and is also known as qat, qaat, quat, gat, jaad, chat, chad, chaad and miraa, depending on the country in which it is found.

Containing the active agents cathinone and cathine, it remains legal in the UK but is banned throughout Europe and north America, Cathinone is a prohibited drug in Australia, while cathine is restricted to prescription use or supply by a doctor.

According to a BBC report on the drug, khat users say the substance gives them a mellow high, while some describe it as a cross between cannabis and cocaine.

Students and taxi drivers say its stimulatory effects enable them to stay awake during long hours of work.

[cisumevil]

If someone was to start selling Khat plants to the African/Middle East communities in Perth you would make A killing!

[C_T]

if its prescription only, then you would have to be a pharmacist to get a liscence.

[cisumevil]

Live plants are legal though ;)

[Teotzlcoatl]

Start selling live plants like crazy!

[Chiral]

I don't think we need the capitalism ideology bantered around here, especially when it's put so distastefully like..."lets get heaps of khat and sell it the Africans" FYI khat can be very addictive and is a problem drug in many poorer nations, it has bad side effects when chewed daily over many years, particular problems with gums and teeth and oral hygiene all round. It also has a nasty comedown if stopped abruptly similar to amphetamines.

While we may think that chewing a few leaves once or twice is like meh...that's really mild, try chewing non stop all day whilst working in the fields for a few years. Some people have a lower tolerance to khat than others don't forget. I remember buying a nice fresh bunch of khat leaves and stems in London one time and spent the whole weekend chewing it, replacing old chew with fresh over and over, and I was pretty wired man I tell you, I'll never forget how high I was and had serious trouble sleeping too.

These people caught with leaf are probably just selling the leaf on to make a profit, I don't think there is any evidence that the leaf was for any clandestine laboratory work, but still if you want to take chances with large amounts of any questionable ethno, especially in the post then you better have a good excuse when the Boys In Blue come knocking.

Personally if people see dollar signs and opportunities to cash in by exploiting potential substance habits amongst tentative underclass cultures, well they obviously aren't in it for the enlightenment or healing aspect are they. There are charlatans on every street corner, with their ears pricked and tuned to any sudden demands by people, concocting quick scams or placing themselves in between the person who has a product and those looking for it, he is affectionately known as "the middleman".

[mr b.caapi]

I got a family of muslims 3 houses up, i might pay them a visit and ask if they wanna buy a couple of plants ;)

[Chiral]

I got a family of muslims 3 houses up, i might pay them a visit and ask if they wanna buy a couple of plants ;)

I'll go out on a limb here and suggest you are indeed kidding surely...

Just in case you don't know, all drugs are basically taboo in Islam, the grey area in their beliefs/rules what have you, is that cigarettes are tolerated because they don't affect your motor functions or get you high etc.

A fully devoted Muslim does not ever touch any substance like cigs or alcohol, but like in any religion there is a certain level of tolerance to Muslims who wish to smoke or use pain relief. It is also not required for women to wear a veil or burka either, it's actually a personal decision and a woman is not chastised for not wearing them, although this tolerance varies from region to region and country to country. You will no doubt the distinct differences and levels of tolerance between African Muslims and say Lebanese Muslims, although they all read from the same book there is indeed some major obvious differences in their choices of lifestyle.

[bℓσωηG]

If there were more trees available there wouldnt be that problem of "darkies" trespassing and vandalising ol dears shrubbery... there was a story on a current affair where they filmed the somali guys rippin down branches of 20ft plus tree, the guy whos tree it was threatened to chop it down if the practice continued....and in the local rag in dunsbough there was a story of a ''foreign gentleman" who politely asked if he may pick a few leaves off a residents tree, he was allowed... but completely stripped the tree bare to the owners horror. It is not methamphetamines on a tree like they made it out to be ...when will society wake up?

[santiago]

You will no doubt the distinct differences and levels of tolerance between African Muslims and say Lebanese Muslims, although they all read from the same book there is indeed some major obvious differences in their choices of lifestyle.

Any race or religion is dictated by the individual alone and categorising muslims, christians, shamans, buddists by what they may or may not ingest is dangerous guesswork. Much theory points toward's the ancient muslims first identifying and using this plant.

I can see your point, it's pointless to go down to your local minority group and engage in catha edulis selling just based on skin colour. Word of mouth is a powerful tool and if i can use my own african friend as a example his family and friends knew the location and strength of over 20 trees within a 10km radius in inner perth 10 years ago. The information is already widely available.

However im sure mother nature wont mind if a couple more thousand tree's are sold to be planted to add to the worlds declining ecosystem.

The obvious google search "muslim catha edulis" quickly came up with a google book very large on the subject im sure only the brave will decide to read. I personally have not read it yet but if its info you crave below is the link.

Have fun.

http://books.google.com.au/books?id=0F4XpB...lis&f=false

[mr b.caapi]

I got a family of muslims 3 houses up, i might pay them a visit and ask if they wanna buy a couple of plants ;)

Yeh, Tongue firmly in cheek Chiral,

Interesting info on Islam but, Im a bit ignorant on religion.

Edited November 19, 2009 by Mr B.caapi

[Torsten]

The people who are traditional consumers of this plant are in my experience the last people to actually grow it. we used to have somalis pop up here at all hours of day and night trying to harvest some of our khat before we cut it down, but they'd hardly ever actually buy a plant. They'd offer me hundreds of dollars for a bag full, but won't fork out $8 for a plant.

we drew the line after two incidences:

1) group of huge somalis [yes, we felt very threatened] started quizzing us on how many dogs we have, if they are locked up at night, if we sleep here, and and if 'that one' is the biggest dog we have. When asked to leave the property they hung around for over an hour.

2) same group rocked up at 5am on a saturday morning and when confronted said "we were just in the area and thought we'd pop in".

[Alice]

I thought the actives degraded rapidly after harvest? What's the point in importing (literally) tonnes of leaf if it's stale upon arrival?

[Torsten]

in 2008 in Australia 20130kg of Khat was authorised for import

 

WOW! I always assumed those import permits were just for a few small personal ethnic imports. That's some serious herbage.

To put that into perspective, cathinone is about 80% the potency of amphetamine, but with a slightly shorter duration. Khat contains about 1% cathinone I think. That means these permits equal about 160kg of amphetamine equivalent. That's about weekend's production in western sydney ;)

if consumption is about 250mg of cathinone per person per day then 200kg of cathinone would keep only 1000 people tweaking. Given the huge somali population in oz that's really not a lot.

[Zen Peddler]

Western Australia is truly the Texas of Australia...