CLICKHEREx Posted June 24, 2014 http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n531/a10.html?1046 21 Jun 2014Source: Independent (UK) Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209Author: Jonathan BrownBookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/khat 'PLENTY OF PEOPLE CHEW. TO US IT IS LIKE COFFEE. IT IS NOT A BIG PROBLEM' JONATHAN BROWN chews khat with immigrants in Sheffield and hears conflicting views about the drug's ban next week I like to be happy on one day, so I like to chew. It gives me energy. If I lose that day, what will I do? With trembling fingers Abdul Fatah unties the banana skin holding the red-green stalks of khat and steadily pulls away the soft new shoots, discarding the leaves before folding them into a wad and starting to chew. It is a busy Friday morning in a pretty public garden in Sheffield's Burngreave area at the heart of the city's Somali and Yemeni community, the largest outside London. Around a dozen men are stretched out on the grass, others sit on the benches chatting, or simply basking in the sunshine. After about an hour the effects of the khat start to cut in it is a subtle combination not unlike a gin and tonic mixed with a double espresso. Occasionally a police car passes by. No one pays any attention. It will be a different story next week. From Tuesday the chewing of khat, a recreational drug consumed almost exclusively by immigrant populations from east Africa and Yemen, becomes illegal. While those caught in possession will first receive a warning then for a second offence a fine starting at UKP60, the ultimate sanction of supplying the new class C drug could be 14 years in prison. The communities are divided over whether the ban, implemented despite experts on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs concluding there was little social or medical harm resulting from its use. MPs have raised concerns that outlawing it could drive the trade into the hands of al-Shabaab terrorists. Chewers in Sheffield say little has been done to prepare the way for many to break the habit of a lifetime. Mr Fatah, 38, unemployed, who suffers from depression says he has been an "addict" for 20 years, spending around UKP9 day on three bundles. "Plenty of people chew it. To us it's exactly like coffee. It makes me feel nice and comfortable. It is not really a big problem but when it is banned people will start to drink and take other drugs and come out on to the street and there will be a big problem," he warns. It is estimated that 10,000 bunches of khat are flown from Kenya to London four times each week. From there they are sent to Liverpool, Birmingham, Leicester and Sheffield. One more delivery is expected on Sunday. "I'm going to buy a big box, this is the last time," shouts a woman across the park. "You can spend 20 hours sitting and chewing," says Farhan Jama, 29. "A single mother with five children, every night she is chewing until maybe five o'clock in the morning but she doesn't wake up and the children miss school. It makes you paranoid and makes pressure on you, you can hear voices," he adds, explaining who the shouting woman was. On most afternoons local men gather above a restaurant to chew and talk about politics, watch satellite television and listen to music. For many it is the focal point of a highly disadvantaged community which first arrived in Sheffield in the 1950s. Ali, 46, a bus driver and father of four, stops off to join the discussion. He insists there is no problem with once a week use, which he compares to going to the pub. "I don't drink alcohol. I work six days a week all my money goes to my children. I like to be happy on one day, so I like to chew. It gives me energy. If I lose that day what will I do?" Mohamed Hasan, 32, arrived from Somalia, aged 13. He started chewing as a teenager. "I am hoping I will do better when I am not chewing. I used to play for Sheffield United under-16s but I fucked off my chances [because of khat] and since then my work has been on and off... This [the ban] is good for us. I will stop it." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Strontium Dawg Posted June 25, 2014 Yeah cos banning all the other drugs stopped everyone taking them... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CLICKHEREx Posted June 27, 2014 Yeah cos banning all the other drugs stopped everyone taking them... Khat may be different, because it needs to be fresh, and it doesn't grow in the UK climate, and wouldn't be economical to grow for sale hydroponically, so the truly devoted addicts will have to learn to grow their own, unless it's grown in Spain, and express trucked to the UK, and sold underground, at a much higher price. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Strontium Dawg Posted June 27, 2014 Creating a black market economy and all the nefarious activities that go hand in hand... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ Posted June 28, 2014 (edited) Ive never heard of khat in uk all i can go off experience-wise is 30 years tho ........ seems like theyre excluding/isolating a specific "peoples" more than a plant by the looks of that Edited June 28, 2014 by ☽Ţ ҉ĥϋηϠ₡яღ☯ॐ€ðяئॐ♡Pϟiℓℴϟℴ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
