Khat
Khat or qat (Catha edulis), also known as Bushman's tea, especially in South Africa, is a species of flowering plant in the family Celastraceae, and the sole species in genus Catha. It is a shrub or tree native to eastern and southern Africa, ranging from Ethiopia and South Sudan to Angola and the Cape Provinces of South Africa. It grows in montane riverine and evergreen forests from 1,100 to 2,400 metres elevation.
It has a history of cultivation originating in the Harar region of Ethiopia, and it was subsequently introduced at different times to countries nearby in East Africa and South Arabia, notably Somalia and Yemen. Cultivated by farmers, its leaves are sold on the market to be chewed as a recreational stimulant. The world's largest consumers are East Africans, particularly Somalis, and nearby Yemen, with the largest producers/exporters being Ethiopia and Kenya.
Khat contains the alkaloid cathinone, a stimulant which causes greater sociability, excitement, mild loss of appetite and mild euphoria. Among communities from the areas where the plant is native, khat-chewing has historical relevance (as a social custom, especially among men) dating back thousands of years, analogous—but slightly different—to the use of coca leaves in South America's Andes Mountains or the betel nut preparations in South Asia.
Since 1980, the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies khat as a "drug of abuse" that can produce psychological dependence, although the WHO does not consider khat addiction to be a serious global problem.
The legality of khat varies by region and country; in many territories, khat might pass "under-the-radar" as a botanical species (thus not be a specifically controlled substance), but its recreational use may, nevertheless, be illegal under more general laws.
It is strictly a controlled substance in many regions, often at the highest degree, including in Australia, Canada, the European Union, India, Jordan, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. In the United States and Turkey, the botanical specimen (plant) Catha edulis is not prohibited, but the consumption and distribution of harvested leaves or possession for recreational use is illegal. In the UAE, the punishment for possession, use, or distribution of khat can include life imprisonment.
By contrast, its production, sale, and consumption are all fully legal—or not mentioned in a legal context at all—in the nations where its use is culturally significant, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen. In Israel, which hosts a population of Yemenite Jews and Ethiopian Jews, only the consumption of the plant's leaves in its natural state is permitted; "khat extracts" are illegal, after they became a street drug and were popularly abused in the 2000s.
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