By Charles Mitchell
Most New Yorkers have never heard of it,
but in Middle Eastern neighborhoods of the city the drug khat
is used as often as coffee as a mild stimulant, and seen as just as harmless.
In parts of
Up until last year, men in the neighborhood said they spoke freely about khat. In fact, khat was sold
openly in many of the restaurants on
Khat came to the attention of the
Still, khat is
not high on the police list of targets because there is not a great demand for
it and because of its low potency in small doses. In fact, the men arrested at
the Blue Province Restaurant had their charges reduced to misdemeanors and they
simply paid fines.
“The charges were reduced because most of the them weren’t aware it was an illegal substance,” said
attorney James Palumbo, who represented some of the men who were detained.
The reason it is illegal, according to the
DEA, is because khat contains cathinone,
a controlled stimulant. Still, khat has to be chewed,
and requires plenty of the leaves to produce amphetamine-like euphoric effects,
according to a report from the now defunct United Nation’s Pan African
electronic information exchange the Hornet.
“It has such a low potency that a suitcase
full would probably be enough for one person,” said Dr. Scott Lukas, director
of the behavioral psychopharmacology lab and associate professor of psychiatry
at
Even though the Hornet said khat use could require drug detoxification, Lukas said khat was non-addictive. The problem with
the authorities, he said, is that because people who use khat
need such large amounts for themselves, police misinterpret the amount of the
substance seized and think it must be for street sale. That is usually
not the intent, he said. Large amounts of the leaves have to be chewed fresh or
it loses its potency. Dried leaves will not produce the desired results, said
Lukas. He also said even a pound of chewed khat just
produces heightened awareness rather than euphoria.
“Users don’t get bored, they are able to
retain attention and vigilance,” said Lukas, who has given expert testimony in
court cases involving khat arrests.
When there are arrests, those detained are
usually shocked. Like the men arrested at the Blue Province Restaurant, many in
the Arab and Somalian communities who use the drug do
not know that it is illegal in the
“It helps you concentrate and wakes you
up,” said Hazza Shabanni,
who was reluctant to say too much about khat because
of fears that those who use it could be arrested. The Yemenite admitted that he
uses the drug but said he considers it harmless.
Even Lukas agreed that khat
was like coffee, but he said the ephedrine-like effects in khat
are closer to a Marlboro cigarette than a cup of java.
“It’s more like a nicotine patch,” said
Lukas, explaining that because the active ingredients are absorbed rather
slowly you do not get huge amounts of it into the body at once.
The way the drug is delivered, said Lukas,
makes it very hard for abuse to develop. It is much like coca leaves, he said,
which have low potency until refined into cocaine or crack.
He said he did not believe khat should be outwardly banned but permitted under
stringent regulations for cultural and religious use, and believed Western
perceptions of khat as a drug were ethnocentric.
“In that particular culture, how it
evolved was that someone had to stand guard for their tribe. If you fell asleep
your tribe would get wiped out by a tiger or whatever,” Lukas said, explaining
that historically khat use was fundamental to the
existence of cultures that used it.
Today khat use
is as a way of bonding in social situations, said one Brooklyn Arab who
identified himself only as Fahmi. Khat
is used predominantly by Arab men. They get together and chew khat much as American men gather at a bar and drink
Budweiser, he said.
The Hornet said khat
sells for between $300 to $400 a kilogram. On the streets of
“It’s like when you drink a lot you can’t
walk and you can’t talk,” Fahmi said. He said he
tried the drug, but it produced no effects on him.
His friend, who identified himself only as
Mohammed, disagreed. He said he did not believe khat
was a problem. He said those who use the drug are more productive.
“It gives you energy and makes you work
and you don’t get addicted to it,” said Mohammed, 28. He has been in the U.S
for eight years and does not use the drug here anymore. He said he does use it
however, when he returns home to
Since the arrests last year, things have
changed in this neighborhood. Khat is no longer
advertised in store windows and restaurants. It is still used, but most people,
at least in this area of