Social aspects of drug use in Djibouti: The case of the leaf of Allah

In Djibouti the chewing of qat leaves is a widespread habit of the male population that has a profound socio-cultural importance, credited with fostering amity and building social relationships. This paper uses a sample of Djiboutian male adult household heads to test for the presence of peer effects in qat consumption choices in the context of the African society of Djibouti. We use multiple empirical strategies to assess the importance of peer effects in qat consumption. The results contribute to provide some suggestive evidence about the importance of social determinants in qat use.