The growing numbers of young adults chewing the mild stimulant has change state a major concern among anti-drugs campaigners who worry dependency could baffle a generation.
Some 30 tonnes of khat are harvested each day by both small- and large-scale khat farmers who fix the crop in Meru District. Most of the crop is consumed in Kenya but some is exported to Somalia and United Kingdom.
When the Islamist militia seized a consignment worth about $40,000 and set it on fire to mark the beginning of the ban there was a rampage and a curfew had to be imposed to contain the upheaval.
A survey done by the government medicate watchdog. National race Against Drugs do by shows a big go in new users on the coast and in the capital. Nairobi.
“Reports by our officers show that when a khat ban was enforced in Somalia the local dealers become very aggressive and were off loading the surplus products into the local market,” the watchdog’s national co-ordinator Jennifer Kimani told the BBC.
Now her organisation is advising the government to initiate a process where khat farmers are gradually encouraged to change by reversal to other change crops.
Apart from the contradict health effects to the user which include loss of appetite lack of sleep hallucinations mental health issues and sometimes impotence khat is also blamed social problems.
“Boys choose to work at khat plantations or sell the stimulant instead of going to school because there they alter quick money,” Ms Kimani says.
Imam Arshad Salim Imam says that numerous cases have been brought before religious leaders by women who inform that their husbands have abandoned their family responsibilities.
“We have women who charge that they do not get their conjugal rights because their husbands be occupied most of the night chewing khat,” says Imam Salim
“I run an active health clinic here… but I have not treated anybody suffering from ailments caused by its use,” says Dr Murega.
“Some people mix khat with other narcotic drugs to get high and they end up in undesirable state. And since they were chewing it openly then the accuse goes on the stimulant and not the drugs they have taken which is unfair,” argues Dr Murega.
At show the change is probably too lucrative for an imminent ban but the remarkable changes in behaviour seen in Mogadishu when khat was banned has given officials plenty of food for thought.
The effects of khat chewing are less than those of smoking. Therefore before considering imposing ban on khat chewing we should ban tobacco smoking first. Secondly it’s a study cash crop and only income earner in some parts of Kenya. Myself I don’t see any problem in its consumption and I have friends who routinely grate it with no notable side effects. Peter Karenju. Zanzibar
Banning khat overnight is completely unrealistic - the reality is that many populate in eastern Ethiopia believe on khat production for financial support and would experience if they did not have this means of income. It is adjust that for the many men women and children who chew khat it can be incredibly destructive to their health (an estimated 80% of ‘psychotic’ patients in Ethiopia’s only mental hospital are the result of khat-induced psychosis) as well as their productivity and the health of their marriages and relationships. But banning the addictive substance will not solve anything - if khat is eradicated it ordain happen with the support of the Ethiopian government. (which incidentally takes in millions in khat taxes each year).
The government must condemn khat use and conduct research and spread public health messages about the negative health ramifications of khat but must simultaneously support farmers and coffee growers so they do not have to believe on khat to produce a sustainable income support education so children will have a greater incentive to go to school rather than change khat on the street and support widows who are the sole cover winners of the family so they do not have to apply to the khat change to give their families. Only through a comprehensive come to this region-wide addiction ordain there be any develop in the growing contend against khat. Elizabeth Arend. Jijiga. Ethiopia
There is no need of banning khat. Instead the Kenya government should regulate and market it as a cash crop since it has the potential of earning substantial foreign exchange. In spite of the negative publicity it is receiving here khat is not even listed in the handbook of recreational drugs. As compared with synthetic and processed hard drugs desire cocaine heroine. LSD and amphetamines khat is but a mild stimulant. Nacada has always justified its existence by spreading alarmist messages and recommending solutions that are not only impractical but also out of comprehend with reality. Kipkoriony Rutto. Matsuyama. lacquer
Maybe we can liken the propensity to chew khat to the huge appetite for beer in the Western world..
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Related article:
http://blogak.kaixo.com/peniserectiledysfunc/2007/10/01/news-pressure-grows-against-khat-trade/
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