By Isaiah Thompson, citypaper.net
Last week, the Philadelphia office for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a proud statement to the press: Agents at a special mail facility in Philly had identified and seized 63 pounds of khat, a "leafy plant … that contains an amphetamine-like stimulant." The press release included a picture of the khat (pronounced "cot" or sometimes "chot"), poking up out of a box.
Khat — sometimes written, as Scrabble players know, as "qat" — is a leafy shrub cultivated in the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. The leaves can be boiled into a tea, but mostly it's chewed. Fresh leaves are essential, because they contain the chemical cathonine, which has been illegal in the United States since 1993, when the Drug Enforcement Administration placed it on its list of Schedule 1 narcotics, in such ignoble company as PCP, Ecstasy and LSD. The cathonine is present only in fresh leaves, however; dried khat contains only cathine, a milder stimulant.
Once khat is intercepted, it's the job of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to find out where it's going. Whether ICE will actually follow the khat trail, however, isn't clear. The agency didn't respond to requests for comment on last week's case, but when CBP seized 72 pounds of khat this past April, a spokesperson for ICE told the Inquirer that the agency "declined to pursue the intended recipients."
Indeed, the war on khat seems to be mostly a cold one — especially in Philly.
Last year, CBP seized 2.5 tons of khat coming into Philly; they've found more than 800 pounds so far this year. Authorities agree that the plant is chiefly consumed by immigrants from countries where it's still common and legal, primarily Yemen, Ethiopia and Somalia. Philly, according to CBP spokesman Steve Sapp, is a khat distribution hub.
And yet, last September, when Philadelphia Police raided a house in East Falls and found 740 pounds of khat there, no one was charged, says Deputy Commissioner William Blackburn. In fact, Cathie Abookire, spokeswoman for the District Attorney, confirms that the DA has never prosecuted anyone for using or selling khat.
"But [Lynne Abraham] is very, very well aware of the drug … and its power," she says.
Statewide, only two khat cases have resulted in sentencing. And two years ago, when the DEA conducted the highest-profile khat bust ever, charging 44 people in New York and Seattle with trafficking, only three were convicted. Of those, one got off with a year.
Blackburn says he just doesn't think there's much khat around. "I haven't come across it in any of our raids."
Maybe there just isn't much khat in Philly. Or maybe — unlike with some other substances — officials are just treating khat like the threat to the public well-being it isn't.
Over a couple of Heinekens at the Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant in West Philly, Wondi and Tesfaye, two well-dressed Ethiopian-American men in their early 30s, look more bored than suspicious when asked about khat.
Sure, they know about it, they say. Plenty of people in Philadelphia chew it. Both men say they no longer do — but with as little vehemence as if saying they no longer do Jägerbombs.
"It makes you feel a little excited, " Tesfaye says, shrugging.
"At home, nobody calls it a drug," Wondi explains.
Tesfaye agrees: "In Germany, they drink beer with breakfast," he says. "You tell Germans it's a drug, and they tell you you're crazy."
There is no global consensus about khat. While some people have defended it as a cultural heritage, Yemeni officials fear that khat is replacing sustenance farming and draining the country of water resources. Some European countries where the plant is legal have considered banning it, fearing that heavy use is leading to mental health problems.
As for the U.S., both Wondi and Tesfaye say that while khat is present, there isn't much of it. Anyway, they say, there's a big distinction between khat and other drugs.
"You don't see people chewing it all alone like this," Wondi says, hunching over and pretending to smoke a crack pipe. Tesfaye starts chuckling. They laugh about it for a while.
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why not legalizing it so the importers or exporters could pay the appropriate revenue to the US goverment or the country of origin of the qat. Personally I believe there are so many other deadly drugs which are worsen than qat, where the law enforcement officers can't handle them properly. Hypocrites
August 27th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Do Ethiopians understand the reason why it's illegal???
Do you know that there are long term bad mental side effects that are really bad??!? WHY DOES THIS FACT NOT BOTHER PEOPLE?
Or is this why your Ethiopian Gov't legalizes it, and have it's populous uses it??? So you can't think nor car and become stagnant, especially when it comes to thinking for yourself?
I read that the British tried numerous times to introduce Heroin and Opium to Ethiopia the same time they did in China, INdia and other parts of Asia as it was a major source of income to their colonies. Back then there were no labs to give accurate information and certainly Haile Selassie being a partner of the British was smart enough and wise enough to insist that no such things would be legalized in the then Kingdom of Ethiopia for the basic reason that it's population would pay for it somehow. Apparently, this gov't does not care about Ethiopians!!
…after all, the other countries where it's legal…Yemen, Somalia…are these countries really where Ethiopia wants to copy, emulate and be an example of???
WHEN YOU STOP TO THINK FOR YOURSELF, OTHERS (ENEMIES ESPECIALLY) WILL THINK FOR YOU AND TAKE YOU ON A PATH WHICH YOU MAY NOT RETURN!! THINK THINK ABOUT WHAT YOUR SAYING!!!
Good night!
August 27th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
chat make you nice and calm not arugant like other drug.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Maybe we need to buy it from the police! They're starvin us now!
August 28th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Fiyel kitel belta tiweldaletch menta;
medhanit yelewim be-chat yetemeta!
Beware Phily police!
August 28th, 2008 at 11:23 am
I strongly believe chat is a drug and should be banned .Any one who use it must pay a hefty penalty. As Ethiopian I did it when I was younger 15, 20 years back ,if anyone says chat does not affect your health check your teeth after chewing it for a few years, most people smoke and drink heavily after chewing it above all it put you in illusion,dream and very far from the facts of your life .If you think chat is not a drug, you are kidding yourself big time!!
August 28th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I see no problem with Khat.Chewing it is like drinking a very strong tea .This is another insult of our culture by custom officials.They throw our Dro Wot,Beg Wot,Enjera and so on and now khat.Please direct your resources to the harmful drugs.Tax and legalise it.
August 28th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
hi as far as I know it is forbidden to do research on chat in Ethiopia too due to western influence but still the farmers are doing research by themselves and take care of there cash crop. If you went to eastern Ethiopia it is really common, I really don't have the real data but it is one of the most exportable commodity. Regarding the health situation I think when we compare it with other normal health problems it is unthinkable, think of those people who was ill due to dirty water, trakoma and TV. if we come to developed countries like us how may people had obesity due to bad combination of food I think chat is the solution for them since it reduce there appetite. one more important info it is less stimulant than the leafs of coffee. Countries may put it in there drug list like usa but our government will fight against it as it is highly tied to our economy as we are listed bio-modified foods as a crime and will not allow to import to Ethiopia. thanks
August 28th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Khat is one of the major tools woyanne is using against the Ethiopian younger generation, it has made Ethiopians spend their money savings on the addiction, it makes you wish the time you will get in your house or "khat bet" to chew and get wasted. It makes you cold enough not to be like the younger generation that made life impossible for Jan Hoy and Derg, wake up Ethiopians, we are mentally stoned by every tools available to make us sleep, wakkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkeeeeeeeeeeeee upppppppppppppppppppp
August 28th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
What benefit does Khat bring other than turning people into mildly zombie characters with popped out eye balls.
That is what people do in countries such as Ethiopia; gather in small groups and spend the majority of their day chewing the stuff and day dreaming.
August 29th, 2008 at 10:42 am