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Legality of Catha edulis in NSW

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Just trying to find out what the current legality of Catha Edulis in NSW.

Cheers

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Ok someone can correct here if I'm wrong, but I thought the deal in NSW was that the plant itself is not scheduled, so you are ok to grow them. But if you harvest & prepare plant material, then you are in possession of a cathinone-containing material, which is illegal.

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To quote Torsten on the topic; 

 

I've given up trying to work out if it is legal or not. Here is my take on it.

Cathinone is S9 in the SUSDP and hence any state that automatically incorporates the SUSDP into their drug list will also have cathinone in there even if it is not specifically listed. This applies to most states (incl WA).

I have a clear interpretation from the TGA that any preparation containing an S9 substance is deemed to be that substance. A leaf picked fresh off the plant is already deemed to be a rpreparation. Live plants are hence excluded.

So, when I pointed out to the TGA that SA has prosecuted under this interpretation, but that WA police have made statements that khta is legal, I was told that I would need to discuss this with the respective state departments as it is them that interpret and enforce the law.

Personally I would say according to my interpretation of the laws that khat foliage is illegal in all states. I should point out that I have never been wrong about any items that I identified as prohibited (I once got it wrong where I thought something was legal where in fact it wasn't). That's not to say I can't be wrong, but on the other hand this really isn't a guessing game, but rather a matter of familiarity with the laws and materials.

if khat foliage is illegal then this creates a problem with the ethnic community who can get licenses to import khat for personal consumption. Essentially these federal import licenses are against the respective state laws.

The way I see it is that as long as khat is not a major problem the authorities simply ignore the contradiction in the laws. Kinda like the way cops ignore bongs even though bongs are still illegal in most states (incl NSW).

None of these laws affect sales of plants though.

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There was a case in perth of someone silly getting themselves into shit over it, but as Torsten's mentioned its not a major problem for law enforcement and mostly goes unnoticed, most police wouldn't know what it is let alone looks like or simply don't care, much like old ladies growing Somniferums in their front yard.

 

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/couple-face-khat-drug-possession-charges/news-story/a60d4c6a923e8fd6f7c2dff94692fbda 

 

 

 

Edited by Martyh64

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Yeah, it used to grow everywhere in WA until there were Africans climbing in peoples trees in their front yards and causing a commotion.

 

Kind of a shame as it's such a pleasant tree, despite it's mildly addictive properties.

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On ‎8‎/‎07‎/‎2017 at 10:58 AM, Northerner said:

Yeah, it used to grow everywhere in WA until there were Africans climbing in peoples trees in their front yards and causing a commotion.

 

Kind of a shame as it's such a pleasant tree, despite it's mildly addictive properties.

Heh, yea I've known of a few in perth having to cut their trees down because of trespassers stealing from them, one person I knew of heard voices in their backyard around 2am, switched on the backlight and saw about 5-10 blokes sitting around the tree in the dark having a chew, once they know its there that's the end of it.

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