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InvisibleveggieM

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,504
The war on khat [CAN]
    #7779718 - 12/19/07 09:57 PM (16 years, 1 month ago)

The war on khat
December 19, 2007 - nationalpost.com

Two recent reports -- the RCMP's annual public summary of the Drug Situation in Canada and an intelligence document prepared for the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre for counterterrorism -- make prominent mention of khat, a stimulant plant traditionally chewed by men in the Horn of Africa and the populated fringes of Arabia. According to the former report, the Mounties seized a total of about 14,000 kilograms of the drug in 2006.

The language of the second report suggests that our counterterror officials may be jumping the gun a little on this file. They admit there is no evidence that revenues from khat trafficking are being used for any nefarious geopolitical purpose. Their warning relies instead on the conjectural assertion that since "much of the khat trade occurs in … a region of the world closely identified with terrorism, it is possible that some parts of the proceeds involved may end up in the hands of terrorists."

That is a weak linkage. Nonetheless, we expect it will be trumpeted by those who advocate a strictly prohibitionist approach to drugs: It is easier to defend tough drug policy if you can conflate it, however vaguely, with the war on terror.

Khat contains cathinone, a mild amphetamine-like substance that is outlawed in Canada and internationally. In Somalia, Kenya and nearby areas, it has a cultural role analogous to coffee in our own world. In inviting the users to Canada, we have effectively imported the potential attendant harms of khat, which can probably be placed somewhere between those of cocaine and marijuana on a scale of severity. Meaningful interdiction is made difficult precisely by the fact that the taste for khat is confined to a few close-knit ethnic communities. The Mounties boast of a few big seizures at Pearson Airport in Toronto, but the very audacity of these busted traffickers suggests that shipments of a similar size must be getting through.

Meanwhile, it's noticeable that intercepting the drug, if it has any effect at all, is likely to increase the expense -- which is cited as one of its most negative social effects -- and creates the very profit margin that would attract illegitimate traffickers. If we were really concerned that the illegal khat trade was funding terrorism in Somalia, wouldn't the sensible approach be legalization? Indeed, the best alternative would be to have it grown here as a cash crop, perhaps for export to Africa.

This is the paradox of any informed analysis of the link between drugs and terror. As a matter of geography, the two tend to thrive together -- in places such as Afghanistan and Columbia, where lawlessness produces safe havens for drug dealers and insurgents alike. But as the analysis above shows, that doesn't mean waging war against the former will inconvenience the latter. Just the opposite, in fact.

It's something to consider as we hear news about Canadian soldiers being killed by poppy-financed Taliban militias. We can wage war against drugs or terrorism. It's very hard -- some might say impossible-- to do both.


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Offlinefantastical
Strangler!
Registered: 11/18/07
Posts: 89
Last seen: 13 years, 7 months
Re: The war on khat [CAN] [Re: veggie]
    #7780687 - 12/20/07 07:50 AM (16 years, 1 month ago)

Wow I can barely believe that such a sensible article made it to mainstream news. These liberal ideas would really help our economy. I also liked how he more or less said Khat doesn't seem to be very harmful health wise, but he still says pot is even less harmful (free mary!). Hopefully Khat becomes legal in Canada, I am definately interested in trying it.


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Offlinelysergic bliss
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Registered: 11/02/07
Posts: 40
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Last seen: 13 years, 7 months
Re: The war on khat [CAN] [Re: veggie]
    #7781081 - 12/20/07 10:41 AM (16 years, 1 month ago)

wow, i didn't even know khat had become illegal. here i was growing it openly in my own yard like it was just another plant. what's next on the ban list, sugar cane?


--------------------
Education is a system of imposed ignorance.


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