The Khat controversy: stimulating the debate on drugs

Khat has been cultivated and consumed for millennia in the countries of the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, where it is prized for its euphoric qualities. In more recent times, its use has spread across Kenya, Ethiopia and the Middle East and, through migration, to London, Copenhagen, Rome and Toronto. Whilst part of everyday life among African and Yemeni populations who consume khat as a mild stimulant, the World Health Organization has warned that its consumption is potentially harmful. Should khat consumption be banned, then as some religious groups have agreed? Taking up these anxieties, some Western and non-Western governments have moved to prohibit khat as a harmful drug, while in other countries it is still sold openly on the streets and chewed by respectable citizens. With its popularity escalating among diasporic cultures, what does the future hold for khat consumers? Are they to be left free to enjoy the chewing of khat, or vilified as consumers of a dangerous drug?. The Khat Controversy presents the first broad, international study of khat-from its value as a crop to local farmers and national economies, to its pharmacology and effects, to its use in a wide range of social rituals - and outlines how an international policy on khat might best be constructed.