KHAT – MIRAA/MUGUKA (PART TWO)

KHAT Uses & Effectiveness

What are the effects of khat?
Khat is a stimulant and chewing it can:

• Make people more alert and talkative

• Produce feelings of elation

• Suppress the appetite

• Produce a feeling of calm if it’s chewed over a few hours, with some describing it as being ‘blissed out’

• Lead to periods of insomnia

What are the risks of khat?
Because khat is a plant, some people think that it is safe to use. But using any drug involves risk. Here’s what it could do to you:

• You may develop insomnia and short-lived states of confusion.

• You can get high blood pressure, heart palpitations and heart problems with heavy use.

• As khat can cause periods of increased libido, care may be needed to minimize the risk of unsafe sex and unwanted pregnancies.

• Khat can inflame the mouth and damage the teeth. It can also reduce appetite and cause constipation, and there is concern about a longer-term risk of development of mouth cancers.

• It can give you feelings of anxiety and aggression.

• It can make pre-existing mental health problems worse and can cause paranoid and psychotic reactions (which may be associated with irritability, anxiety and losing touch with reality).

• There is a small risk of significant liver disease, which has the potential to be life threatening.
• Impurities
  Because khat comes in recognizable leaf form, it can’t easily be cut with anything.

Can you get addicted to khat?
Khat can make a user psychologically dependent (with craving and a desire to keep using in spite of potential harm). When some users stop using they can feel lethargic or mildly depressed and may have a withdrawal period with fine tremors and nightmares.

The effects of khat include:

• Euphoria
• Loss of appetite
• Increased energy
• Increased sociability
• Increased alertness
• Cheerfulness
• Sense of well-being
• Reduction of boredom

Some people can develop a hyperactive mania after continuous use, or manifest aggression or even a short-lived psychotic episode. It is difficult for most people to consume enough of the drug to develop these more severe symptoms.

A couple of hours after use, a person can begin to experience:

• Tension
• Depression
• Sluggishness
• Emotional instability
• Irritability
• Insomnia
• Lack of concentration
• Restlessness

Withdrawal Effects of Khat

When a person stops using the drug, he can experience with following withdrawal effects:

• Nightmares
• Depression
• Sedation
• Low blood pressure
• Lassitude
• Trembling
• Brief hallucinations that occur as a person is going to sleep or waking up

Similar Synthetic Drugs

The two intoxicants in the plant are cathinone and cathine. They are similar to but milder than amphetamine. In the last several years, synthetic forms of this drug have become popular and dangerous. Synthetic cathinones are very often the types of drugs found in “bath salts.” They are far stronger in their synthetic forms. Mephedrone, methylone, methcathinone and MDPV (3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone) are all illicit synthetic drugs in this class.

TO BE CONTINUED……………

KHAT-Miraa/Muguka (Part ONE)

KHAT (Miraa/Muguka)

Other Names:

Abyssinian Tea, Arabian-Tea, Catha edulis, Celastrus edulis, Chaat, Gat, Kat, Kathine, Kus es Salahin, Miraa, Qat, Qut, Tchaad, Thé Abyssin, Thé Arabe, Thé Somalien, Tohai, Tohat, Tschut.

What is khat? 

Khat is a leafy green plant containing two main stimulant drugs which speed up your mind and body. Their main effects are similar to, but less powerful than, amphetamine (Speed).  Khat is used mostly in North East Africa, and the Arabian Peninsual and by expatriate communities from these regions

Khat is a plant that grows and mostly used in Yemen, Ethiopia and Somalia — the “Horn of Africa.” It can also be found in South Africa, Sudan, Kenya, Afghanistan and Madagascar. Khat is also used mostly in North East Africa, and the Arabian Peninsual and by expatriate communities from these regions Just a few years ago, the only people in the Western Hemisphere who had heard of khat were some immigrants from Eastern Africa. A major reason for this limited distribution is that khat loses some of its potency within 48 hours.

But in the last few years, transportation methods have improved in the source countries, and shippers package the plant material carefully to keep it moist, reducing some of the loss of potency. It has since become available to more locations and now is much better known around the world.

Shipments of khat often leave Eastern Africa and arrive in the UK, with a portion of the shipment destined for North America. Seizures have sometimes been made of crates of khat on their way to large North American cities with substantial Eastern Africa immigrant populations, such as Toronto, Washington DC and San Diego.

In source countries Ethiopia and Somalia and neighboring country Djibouti, the drug is legal and in accepted use in social situations. These populations tend to bring the use of the drug with them when they emigrate to countries where it is not legal or where it becomes illegal after increasing amounts of the drug are sold and consumed. Khat is illegal in the US and most of Europe.

Khat was only made illegal in the UK in July 2013. When it became illegal, there were 3,000 tons of the drug passing through the country’s airports each year.

Khat is a plant. The leaf and stem are used as a recreational drug and as medicine.

As a recreational drug, the leaves and stem are chewed by people in East Africa and the Arabian countries to elevate mood (as a euphoriant).

As a medicine, khat leaf is used for depression, fatigue, obesity, stomach ulcers, and male infertility. It is also used to lower the need for food and sleep, decrease sexual desires, and increase aggression.

The World Health Organization (WHO) lists khat as a drug that creates “dependence” in people, meaning it produces a continuing desire to keep using it. In Somalia, civilian and military use of khat has been blamed for fueling civil war, draining the nation’s economy, and undermining international relief efforts.

TO BE CONTINUED…………..