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 veggie
Registered: 07/25/04
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 Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week 
#10311467 - 05/09/09 02:39 AM (3 years, 18 days ago) |
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Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons a week of a drug banned in most Western countries.
May 9, 2009 - somaliweyn.org
London - Deep in the bowels of west London, amid the warren of subways running under Edgware Road, two Ethiopians stand behind a sparsely stocked kiosk.
Except for a few Mars Bars, they preside over a shop conspicuous for its lack of confectionary.
Customers instead make a beeline for two large fridges packed with tightly wrapped green bundles of khat – the Horn of Africa's favorite drug.
"It arrived this morning, but you must chew it in two or three days or it will go bad," one of the shopkeepers says as he passes a £4 ($6) bundle of the narcotic leaf to an eager-looking customer.
Although illegal in the United States since 1993 and banned throughout much of Europe, khat remains legal in Britain.
But community campaigners, backed by psychiatrists and a warning from the World Health Organization, have long believed that one of the active ingredients, cathonine, can lead to mental problems among regular users and have called for Britain to join much of the developed world by banning the drug.
Some of the most vocal critics of the drug have emerged recently from within the Somali community here. Khat, they say, is not only bringing harm to individuals, but it's also stymieing wider integration efforts.
"My people are in trouble because of this drug and I tell you ... London hasn't seen the worst of it," says Abdi Hussein, a young Somali migrant and former addict.
Thus far, Britain's Home Office has parried arguments for controlling khat, saying it is a mild narcotic and an innocent cultural past time with few proven social or medical ills.
'Khat has slowly been killing our community'
Each week, according to a widely cited but likely outdated government estimate, around seven tons of the leafy stimulant arrives at Heathrow Airport from the khat fields of Ethiopia and Kenya, to be whisked to khat cafes, known as mafreshis, frequented by many of Britain's 250,000-strong Somali migrant community, as well as the country's smaller Ethiopian and Yemeni groups.
Chewers devour up to two pounds of the leaf in a session. Similar to the chewing of cocoa leaves among Andean people, khat use is a centuries-old tradition originating in East Africa and the Arabian peninsula.
It has a social function of lubricating political debate and religious study – early users reportedly included Koran scholars – as well as quelling hunger in a poor corner of the world. In a Western context, the role of khat is less clear. A growing clamor of voices favor a ban amid concerns that the drug is wreaking havoc in Britain's large Somali population.
"Khat has slowly been killing our community but no one has paid any attention, until now," says former khat addict Abukar Awali. At the height of his habit, Mr. Awali says he chewed up to eight pounds of leaves daily.
"It's no exaggeration to say it is preventing us from integrating," he says. "When you chew, you don't work or meet anyone apart from Somalis. Maybe 80 percent of our men chew khat. When you are not chewing, you become paranoid and depressed. Everybody in my community knows someone with a khat problem; they are just afraid to say it."
While the debate over whether to control the drug continues, campaigners say its use is playing a role in alarming rates of unemployment, crime, and poor educational achievement among the country's Somalis.
The leaf's path from Mogadishu to London
The largest wave of Somali refugees arrived in Britain in 1991 after the collapse of Somalia's government and the onset of civil war. Already dislocated from their homeland, the majority were heaped into Britain's already overcrowded and poor inner-city estates.
With the newcomers came a more relaxed attitude toward khat. The drug has become more widely accepted now by the British Somali community.
"Khat is now seen as something from 'our' culture; an identifying point," says youth worker Hanad Mahamoud, from Brent, a London borough with at least 3,8000 Somali residents. "But that's nonsense. In Somalia, clan elders used to chew khat and talk politics. Here, men, women, and teenagers are chewing it all day just to get marqaan" – high – "on the bus, in the street, not working, not looking after themselves or their kids. They can't see that it is a part of 'culture' which has grown on the streets of Brent, not Mogadishu."
It is a dangerous myopia being intensified by the government's refusal to engage with the khat problem, says Barry Gardiner, the Labour Party's representative in Parliament for Brent North.
"It is at the heart of the dysfunctionality of the Somali community," Mr. Gardiner says. "It's a driver for crime, dropping out of school, and unemployment. It is also clearly a gateway to taking – and dealing – harder drugs. It is frankly rubbish to suggest it is innocent."
Is khat preventing British Somalis from thriving?
The government recently hinted that it may at last be listening to the warnings about khat.
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which helps shape Britain's drug laws, last month commissioned new research into the medical and social impacts of khat. The new report is expected to be released by the end of the year and the Home Office.
Last month, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith heard private testimony from a group of young Somalis whose lives have been blighted by khat. She was, by all accounts, moved by their stories of neglect and squandered opportunity.
Among those giving evidence was Mr. Hussein, the young Somali migrant who was able to kick his addiction.
"I used to think khat was a leaf, just like chewing grass – animal antics," he says with staccatoed urban eloquence.
"But it messed up my head. You're chilled when you chew, but the lows are very dark. Lots of my friends don't go to school because they are chewing all night. It started them into other drugs, but I got out in time."
Student Miski Abdullahi agrees, suggesting that khat has even dulled the entrepreneurial instincts of the community.
"Families are claiming state benefit and then spending it on khat, not their children. Somalis are doing well in the US and Canada, but are backward here. You have to ask 'why?' "
Concerned youngsters like Ms. Miski and Abdi campaign with the knowledge that they are fighting both the Home Office and the elders of their closely knit community, many of whom are reluctant to kick the khat habit or the lucrative businesses it has seeded.
The question of criminalizing Somalis also looms large, given the growing number of young Somalis falling into the criminal-justice system and the current negative connotations in Britain ascribed to being young, black, Muslim, and from a refugee community.
But campaigners say until khat is banned Somalis will struggle to find their place in Britain.
"They say 'the night which is darkest, is the night before dawn,' " explains youth worker Hanad Mahamoud, citing a Somali proverb. "Khat is a cancer killing my people, we will never integrate until it is gone."
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 Coaster
Baʿal
 
Registered: 05/22/06
Posts: 33,501
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: veggie]
#10311509 - 05/09/09 03:05 AM (3 years, 18 days ago) |
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racists
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shinyturquoise
Stranger
Registered: 05/10/07
Posts: 53
Last seen: 2 years, 3 months
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: Coaster]
#10312093 - 05/09/09 08:31 AM (3 years, 18 days ago) |
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REGULATE it
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero
Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,193
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 9 hours, 4 minutes
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: veggie]
#10312309 - 05/09/09 09:38 AM (3 years, 18 days ago) |
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> But campaigners say until khat is banned Somalis will struggle to find their place in Britain.
Either go home or adopt local culture. I have nothing against immigration, but immigrants should not expect their new home to adopt a foreign culture. If I immigrate to another country, I adopt my new homes culture.
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Just another spore in the wind.
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Visionary Tools
I <3 Thomas Jefferson
Registered: 06/23/07
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: veggie]
#10312346 - 05/09/09 09:51 AM (3 years, 18 days ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said:
Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons a week of a drug banned in most Western countries.
May 9, 2009 - somaliweyn.org
London - Deep in the bowels of west London, amid the warren of subways running under Edgware Road, two Ethiopians stand behind a sparsely stocked kiosk.
Yeah, way to set the precedent of the rest of the article.
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HighHat
Repeat Gold Medal eBay -TiVoist
Registered: 01/24/08
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: Visionary Tools]
#10312594 - 05/09/09 11:10 AM (3 years, 18 days ago) |
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Quote:
...a £4 ($6) bundle of the narcotic leaf to an eager-looking customer.
Here we go mislabeling the classes of drugs again...
"The stimulant effect of the plant was originally attributed to "katin", cathine, a phenethylamine-type substance isolated from the plant. However, the attribution was disputed by reports showing the plant extracts from fresh leaves contained another substance more behaviorally active than cathine. In 1975, the related alkaloid cathinone was isolated, and its absolute configuration was established in 1978. Cathinone is not very stable and breaks down to produce cathine and norephedrine. These chemicals belong to the PPA (phenylpropanolamine) family, a subset of the phenethylamines related to amphetamines and the catecholamines epinephrine and norepinephrine."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khat
Someone should tip this journalist off about the world's massive hydroponic ecstasy problem. 
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Have you ever felt like you were wearing a hat, but you weren't?
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" -Letter from the Pennsylvania Assembly, November 11, 1755
This profile is strictly for role-playing. Any alleged association with illegal activities is purely fictional. Any images depicting illegal activities are photo-shopped or stolen.
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TheYeti
Stranger
Registered: 06/15/07
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: veggie]
#10312645 - 05/09/09 11:23 AM (3 years, 18 days ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said:
Chewers devour up to two pounds of the leaf in a session. Similar to the chewing of cocoa leaves among Andean people, khat use is a centuries-old tradition originating in East Africa and the Arabian peninsula.
Nice.
What a terrible article. Khat is undeserving of banning.
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buddhabadger
Evil Overlord
Registered: 01/16/09
Posts: 491
Loc: The Forest
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: veggie]
#10313018 - 05/09/09 01:01 PM (3 years, 18 days ago) |
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Quote:
veggie said:
Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons a week of a drug banned in most Western countries.
May 9, 2009 - somaliweyn.org
"My people are in trouble because of this drug and I tell you ... London hasn't seen the worst of it," says Abdi Hussein, a young Somali migrant and former addict.
Thus far, Britain's Home Office has parried arguments for controlling khat, saying it is a mild narcotic and an innocent cultural past time with few proven social or medical ills.
'Khat has slowly been killing our community
Home Office = Cracqui Smith, yes? This is the same dimwitted cunt that's so rabidly anti-cannabis, and yet with khat it's all "Oh, no, pish tosh, it's fine."
What the holy fuck is wrong with the Home Office?
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- I don't abuse drugs; in fact, I think I treat them quite nicely. -
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lumibles
Lurker
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: buddhabadger]
#10313205 - 05/09/09 01:54 PM (3 years, 18 days ago) |
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All the way through this article I replaced khat with marijuana and it sounded strangely familiar.
Regulate and educate. But then again, that takes effort and understanding where banning just takes police force.
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Reality is a crutch for people who can't cope with drugs. ~Lily Tomlin
Did you know America ranks the lowest in education but the highest in drug use? It's nice to be number one, but we can fix that. All we need to do is start the war on education. If it's anywhere near as successful as our war on drugs, in no time we'll all be hooked on phonics. ~Leighann Lord
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GetTheFuckOut
Long Gone.
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: veggie]
#10315783 - 05/10/09 02:25 AM (3 years, 17 days ago) |
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LOL! "Deep in the bowels of west London," I bet it's the bowels alright...
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I have logged in this once so that I can set the "last seen" feature up. let the faggots flow forth into OTD and have it. Its funny how they all grew nuts after I left. I'm not here, I'm not reading, but I urge you all to keep melting down over me. I know, I hurt alot of people, and they deserved it. epic win for me, epic fail for you.
ythan, you rock dude. i feel that my time at the shroomery was very positive and enjoyable, but this site is no longer for me. im not mad or upset or disappointed, i just want no part in a pg rated faggot festival.
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hockeyplyr1057
Music Lover
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: GetTheFuckOut]
#10315830 - 05/10/09 02:46 AM (3 years, 17 days ago) |
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is khat really a problem after regular use? i honestly don't know much about it at all
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All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. -Gandalf
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JackAsserry
Cool Captain
Registered: 04/12/09
Posts: 84
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: hockeyplyr1057]
#10318422 - 05/10/09 05:41 PM (3 years, 16 days ago) |
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Quote : But campaigners say until khat is banned Somalis will struggle to find their place in Britain.
Either go home or adopt local culture. I have nothing against immigration, but immigrants should not expect their new home to adopt a foreign culture. If I immigrate to another country, I adopt my new homes culture.
Suess I couldn't agree with you more.
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Humility
Working on it
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: JackAsserry]
#10321518 - 05/11/09 07:38 AM (3 years, 16 days ago) |
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Well I disagree with both of you and so do the multiplicity of diverse communities among the world, London being one of the foremost.
Different cultures being spread out amongst each other gives growing children a greater range of options and expands their horizons. I think it's an excellent thing.
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JackAsserry
Cool Captain
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: Humility]
#10321563 - 05/11/09 07:53 AM (3 years, 16 days ago) |
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Yes I agree with being able to feel pride for your own culture etc, and over course a person isn't going to be expected to 100% change every thing about them when they move into a country. But If I moved into Suadi Arabia, or Afghanistan and my girlfriend would not wear a burka, I disrespected the public culture and religion and drank alcohol freely in public I'd probably be executed. No doubt about it. The rest of the world is not very keen on letting " foreign" intrusion dilute their culture, which is the way they see it. And by that I mean they aren't ready to accept many North American and European Ideals. Many, many times they disregard "word wide" accepted practices and stick to their barbaric, in humane or cruel ones.. Ie " female genital mutilation" the rest of the world out there is fucked up in many cases.
Too much of the "Western World" is bending over backwards to accomodate Ideals we don't believe in and sacrificing our own integrity for " political correctnes" ....
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not racist, I have friends of many different cultures, but however If someone came to my neighborhood and hated me for my beliefs etc I'd be pretty fucking furious.
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Green_T
Getting to the chopper
Registered: 10/02/08
Posts: 4,024
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Re: Britain's large Somali community chews at least seven tons of khat a week [Re: Coaster]
#10324536 - 05/11/09 08:49 PM (3 years, 15 days ago) |
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Quote:
Coaster said:
racists
- Minority uses drug from native culture.
- White people experiment with drug
- All of a sudden government wants to ban drug among media sensationalism
Sound familiar?
(hint: look up the history of marijuana prohibition)
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"I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man" - Thomas Jefferson
Legalize Meth | Drug War Victims
Their vial of acid, which is on the table over there, tastes vile because they're incompetent chemists.
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