Ava Khat Zaw

[Giovanni Sealy]

Ittakes seven to eight years for the khat plant to reach its full height. Other than access to sun and water, khat requires little maintenance. Ground water is often pumped from deep wells by diesel engines to irrigate the crops, or brought in by water trucks. The plants are watered heavily starting around a month before they are harvested to make the leaves and stems soft and moist. A good khat plant can be harvested four times a year, providing a year-long source of income for the farmer.

Khat has been grown for use as a stimulant for centuries in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula. There, chewing khat predates the use of coffee and is used in a similar social context. Its fresh leaves and tops are chewed or, less frequently, dried and consumed as tea, to achieve a state of euphoria and stimulation. The leaves or the soft part of the stem can be chewed with either chewing gum or fried peanuts to make it easier to chew.

In Uganda, it is grown in the central region, especially in Kasenge (Wakiso), Butambala District, Mabira Forest, and in some parts of the western region of the country.[5] In Kenya, it is grown in Meru County and Embu County.

Although the practice of khat-chewing is still primarily restricted to its original area of cultivation in the Red Sea area,[5] the khat plant has, over the years, found its way to southern Africa as well as tropical areas, where it grows on rocky outcrops and in woodlands. The shrub is, today, scattered but still found wild in the KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Western Cape and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa, in addition to Eswatini and Mozambique.[19] In recent years, however, improved roads, off-road motor vehicles, and air transportation have increased the global distribution of this perishable commodity and, as a result, the plant has been found in places such Australia, Amsterdam, Canada, England, the Levant, Rome (Italy), New Zealand, and Wales.[20] and the United States. In the US, freshly-packed khat leaves are sold in the African and Middle Eastern markets of Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York City, where the demand is highest.[21]

Traditionally, khat is used as a socialising drug as in Yemen, where khat-chewing is predominantly a male habit combined with conversation, hookah smoking, and tea drinking.[22] Khat is so popular in Yemen that its cultivation consumes much of the country's agricultural resources. An estimated 40% of Yemen's water supply goes towards irrigating it,[23] with production increasing by about 10% to 15% every year. One "daily bag" of khat requires an estimated 500 litres (130 US gal) of water to produce.[24] Water consumption is high and groundwater levels in the Sana'a basin are diminishing, so government officials have proposed relocating large portions of the population of the city to the Red Sea coastal areas.[22]

One reason for the widespread cultivation of khat in Yemen is the high income that it provides for farmers. Some studies done in 2001 estimated that the income from cultivating khat was about 2.5 million Yemeni rials per hectare, while fruits brought only 0.57 million rials per hectare. Between 1970 and 2000, the area on which khat was cultivated was estimated to have grown from 8,000 to 103,000 hectares.[25] In 2000, according to a World Bank estimate, khat accounted for 30% of Yemen's economy.[26]

In countries outside the core area of growth and consumption, khat is sometimes chewed at parties or social functions. It may also be used by farmers and labourers for reducing physical fatigue or hunger, and by drivers and students for improving attention.

Khat consumption induces mild euphoria and excitement, similar to that conferred by strong coffee.[5][31] Individuals become very talkative under the influence of the plant. Animal testing has shown that khat causes an increase in motoric activity.[31] The effects of oral administration of cathinone occur more rapidly than the effects of amphetamine pills; roughly 15 minutes as compared to 30 minutes in amphetamine.[medical citation needed] Khat can induce manic behaviours and hyperactivity, similar in effects to those produced by amphetamine.[32]

The use of khat results in constipation. Dilated pupils (mydriasis) are prominent during khat consumption, reflecting the sympathomimetic effects of the drug, which are also reflected in increased heart rate and blood pressure. Long-term use can precipitate permanent tooth darkening (of a greenish tinge), susceptibility to ulcers, and diminished sex drive. Khat is an effective anorectic, causing loss of appetite.[33]

It is unclear if the consumption of khat directly affects the mental health of the user or not.[34] Occasionally, a psychotic episode can result, resembling a hypomanic state in presentation.[35] In humans, its prolonged consumption creates an uplifted mood and a sense of release from time and space.[31]

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 behaviourally active than cathine. In 1975, the related alkaloid cathinone was isolated, and its absolute configuration, (S)-2-Amino-1-phenylpropan-1-one,[42] 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.[34] In fact, cathinone and cathine have a very similar molecular structure to amphetamine.[43] Khat is sometimes confused with methcathinone (also known as cat), a Schedule I substance that possesses a similar chemical structure to the khat plant's cathinone active component. However, both the side effects and the addictive properties of methcathinone are much stronger than those associated with khat use.[44]

When khat leaves dry, the more potent chemical, cathinone, decomposes within 48 hours, leaving behind the milder chemical, cathine. Thus, harvesters transport khat by packaging the fresh leaves and stems in plastic bags or wrapping them in banana leaves to preserve their moisture and keep the cathinone potent. It is also common for them to sprinkle the plant with water frequently or use refrigeration during transportation.

When the khat leaves are chewed, cathine and cathinone are released and absorbed through the mucous membranes of the mouth as well as the lining of the stomach. The action of cathine and cathinone on the reuptake of epinephrine and norepinephrine has been demonstrated in lab animals, showing that one or both of these chemicals cause(s) the body to recycle these neurotransmitters more slowly, resulting in the wakefulness and insomnia associated with khat use.[45]

Receptors for serotonin show a high affinity for cathinone, suggesting this chemical is responsible for feelings of euphoria associated with chewing khat. In mice, cathinone produces the same types of nervous pacing or repetitive scratching behaviours associated with amphetamines.[46] The effects of cathinone peak after 15 to 30 minutes, with nearly 98% of the substance metabolised into norephedrine by the liver.[43]

Cathine is somewhat less understood, being believed to act upon the adrenergic receptors causing the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine.[47] It has a half-life of about three hours in humans. The medication bromocriptine can reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms within 24 hours.[48]

An estimated 5 to 10 million people globally use khat on a daily basis.[49] It is grown principally by communities in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula, where khat-chewing has a long history as a social custom dating back thousands of years.[5]

The inhabitants of Ifat Sultanate were the first to be recorded using khat in the 14th century by Arab historian Ibn Fadlallah al-Umari.[50] The khat plant likely originated in the Horn of Africa specifically Ethiopia-Somali area, from there it spread to Kenya and the Arabian Peninsula.[51] According to nineteenth century British explorer Richard Burton, khat originated in the Emirate of Harar.[52]

The earliest known documented description of khat is found in the Kitab al-Saidala fi al-Tibb كتاب الصيدلة في الطب, an 11th-century work on pharmacy and materia medica written by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, a Persian scientist and biologist. Unaware of its origins, al-Bīrūnī wrote that khat is:[54]

[A] commodity from Turkestan. It is sour to taste and slenderly made in the manner of batan-alu. But khat is reddish with a slight blackish tinge. It is believed that batan-alu is red, coolant, relieves biliousness, and is a refrigerant for the stomach and the liver.

And one may sleep well if, during the day, too much kat has not been chewed. The leaves of the drug called kat are the chief source of pleasurable excitement in these districts of East Africa. Botanists, taking the native name for the plant, turn it into Catha edulis, eatable kat. It is much used by the Arabs, to whom it is sent in camel loads, consisting of a number of small parcels, each containing about forty slender twigs, with the leaves attached, carefully, wrapped so as to avoid exposure to the air. These leaves are chewed, and act upon the spirits of those using them, much as a strong dose of green tea acts upon us in Europe, when it acts agreeably. Europeans used to stronger stimulants, are little affected by the use of kat, but among the more temperate Arabs it is so welcome a provocative to good humour, that about two hundred and eighty camel-loads of it are used every year in Aden only.

The plant is native to the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, despite its native grounds it is only legal in one of the several countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen. The plant however is widely available and legal in East Africa, some African nations on the other hand such as South Africa consider it as a protected species.The plant is mostly used by East Africans and South West Arabians, rarely by people from other places.

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