Pat Uri Posted September 30, 2012 Cathi-none, if you must! Cathic-(us)-one to avoid the word-bot censors Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mindperformer Posted September 30, 2012 good idea, in Israel they call it hagigat i also prefer Dimitri for DMT Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
M S Smith Posted September 30, 2012 Whatever you do, don't let this happen to you... http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilus/5729666861/ ~Michael~ 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mindperformer Posted September 30, 2012 (edited) yeah he chewed much, but of course the sad look is a result of the poor living conditions of this man and not lastly the economical colonialism in africa. Edited September 30, 2012 by mindperformer Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
planthelper Posted October 1, 2012 (edited) he is lucky, he get's at least some food, in form of the qat. the heap of spent twigs is though very impressive. it's easy to say for outsiders, grow fruits and veges instead of qat, i'm sure it's not that easy, in reality. traditional drugs are often the backbone of a society (pituri in oz, coca in sa, qat in the east) and fullfill a role of barter and hold together old believes, removing them, would lead to bigger problems than those drugs, pose, in the first place. for example the substitution of alcohol for pituri in australia. Edited October 1, 2012 by planthelper 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mindperformer Posted October 1, 2012 I absolutely agree with you, planthelper, the fruits, cut flowers and vegetables are produced, but for the west... As a consequence of the high price for this foods, kath is cheap in comparison, since the western world doesn't import much of it... It is a thousands years old tradition which is much less harmful than f. e. alcohol addiction and as you wrote it plays a key role in this societies, because the people are sitting together, talking to each other on kath. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mira Posted October 2, 2012 It is not that produce is locally expensive per se, but as a farmer khat also provides the biggest economic rewards as it commands the highest price and is relatively unaffected by drought and pests. The book I mentioned in another thread goes to great length to describe the rewards of khat over coffee and tea in Kenya as a case study including the social rewards you mention, PH. Pretty much if you want to be able to send your kids to a good school and provide them with the best opportunities to get ahead you grow khat. If you find yourself a poor kid without many opportunities, you are probably best of getting involved with the khat trade as a picker and then distributor. For the country as a whole, a local product and local market with some international trade provides many more benefits than growing only a relatively low value commodity cash crop subject to the swings of a volatile international market and foreign middleman. Demonizing khat seems to be mainly a Western pursuit with a small conservative Muslim minority also participating. That's not to say that it does no harm as the collective wisdom says that extended cathinone usage is detrimental (probably due to sleep deprivation) to the already poor driving practices in these countries leading to many khat related deaths. But the push to regulate it as a very dangerous substance is unwarranted medically and socially. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
