Talk:Khat
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[edit] sources
Khat isn't controlled under Schedule IV so whoever wrote that should actually take the time to read, I didn't see cathnione or Khat listed
no where in the description does it talk about khat's ability to make people focussed and more concentrated thus almost all med students take it
==I'm assuming that you aren't a med student yourself. To me it seems that med students would tend to find a prescription to amphetamine medications like Adderall, Dextrostat, or Desoxyn instead of finding some bitter bush to chew. For one, these such medications are very standardized and will give the exact same dose at the exact same rate each time of ingestion, whereas chewing leafs of a plant with a natural stimulant gives no certainty to the concentration of the active constituents which the user seeks. It's much like using any drug, really - even though you can educatedly guess your dose, or think you feel about where you want to be, you never really know what you're getting. Now, why would a highly educated med student want to crash their brain into a frenzy of chemical imbalance to the point where they could think so quickly and sporadically that they wouldn't even want to study? Aside from all of that, why would the description mention anything about khat making people more focused? It states that it is used traditionally much like coffee in khat houses, like our coffee houses. Don't assume that it makes everyone more focused just because it's used much in the same manner as coffee, which does focus the attention span mildly. Khat has much more of an effect like a cocaine rush - this certainly isn't a focused feeling, but a very stimulated, excited, uninhibited, cooling sense of superhumanness. I just don't think I could write a term paper with that sort of mentality, however with a couple of Adderall XR's, well that's a different story.
Again we see the prejudice for supposedly safer/better/purer factory produced medicines. This is a delusion. Amphetamines are digested in the stomach, which is very inefficient, and takes a long time. Qat is more efficiently absorbed in the mouth. This provides the user with far greater control of dosage/effect. Scientists call this "self titration". The same argument used to be made about THC by Anslinger: i.e., it should be synthesized and then digested for more "reliable" dosage. But digestion is inherently unreliable, and takes so long that the user has already eaten too much before he can detect any overdose. Smoking pot is far more effective and immediate and allows the user to control his dosage directly.
- I have chewed (to extract the juice) 2 or 3 bundles of fresh Khat several times back in the '70s in various northern Somali towns. It was definately a social event to sit around, chew khat, drink sweet tea (as I remember) and either talk or listen to live music until the sun came up. Maybe it was my cultural background or genetic makeup, but it was more like drinking 3 or 4 cups of strong coffee. A small bit of fresh Nigerian kola nut (the volume of 3 or 4 single khot leaves) had more of an effect upon me than a bundle of khat. Maybe it is stonger today. At that time it was said that continued use over a long time could be addictive and people said it helped sharpen the mind (an example used was, when memorizing the Koran). I can't remember if they would chew Khat during the day in Ramazan, I would doubt it since I understood nothing should pass their throat and to the extent that the very devoted would constantly spit to avoid that potential. All the Somalis I chewed khat with seem to react to it the same as myself at the time, I could not detect a personality shift. --Rcollman 20:08, 27 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Spelling
I also agree that the word Khat is not the right spelling it should be changed. I also deleted the part of the article that states that Muslims use Qat during fasting in Ramazan, as this is wrong. No self respecting Muslim would consume anything during fasting in Ramazan —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tnewsletters (talk • contribs) 05:46, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
- I don't know. I could definitely believe that. Chat isn't consumed, I don't think, just chewed. I'm going to reinsert it, but with a {{fact}} tag saying it needs a citation and therefore may not be true. Also, the qualifier "a few" is a bit odd wording (it's not good prose, even if it's perfect grammar). Unless it's only been chewed for 2 or 3 centuries (which I doubt), it's also not very accurate.
- ዮም (Yom) | contribs • Talk 07:29, 31 May 2006 (UTC)
About qat during Ramadan: In Yemen, qat is definitely chewed more extensively during Ramadan than during the rest of the year. The point is: It is chewed at night (before sunrise), so it does not break the fasting. On whether it is halal to consume qat during Ramadan or in fact during any other time, this is up for debate: Most Zaidi scholars obviously do not consider it haram.
Catha is Latinized from Qat. The spelling Khat has no justification afaics, since kh usually transliterates ḫ, not q. The spelling Qat would maybe be preferable in this article. dab (ᛏ) 09:36, 7 January 2006 (UTC)
The Amharic transliteration has "chat," but it doesn't indicate that the "ch" is an ejective one. Also, should the Arabic and Ge'ez script be used for the other pronounciations? Yom 03:32, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
Lem PD Actually Khat, Miraa, Qat, is a dangerous controlled substance. Khat was added to the schedule by the DEA as an emergency schedule. Yes I have chewed Khat on many occasions. But just to clarify, it is scheduled
In Canada, khat (there are numerous spellings in use, any or all of them acceptable) is illegal. It is a Controlled substance under Schedule III as #19. Cathinone ((–)–a–aminopropiophenone) and any salt thereof and Schedule IV as #19. Catha edulis Forsk., its preparations, derivatives, alkaloids and salts, including: (1) Cathine (d–threo–2–amino–1–hydroxy–1–phenylpropane).Flanman31 04:38, 16 September 2007 (UTC)
[edit] in Islam
Where do muslims get the idea that they can bar Christians from using this plant? Do they think they own it?! Scorpionman 18:38, 11 August 2006 (UTC)
The claims that it is "gaining popularity" among Christians for religious purposes is uncited; I'm removing it until someone has a source for these claims. Agivith 01:02, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Explain plz?
It says Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia can't use it because it's an anorexant...do they have a rule against artificially suppressing one's appetite? I feel this should be explained.
- No, some Orthodox Christians use it now, but the church forbids it because it is a stimulant. — ዮም | (Yom) | Talk • contribs • Ethiopia 21:03, 6 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Somalia Islamists ban drug
That's my source, but I bad at editing and citing so someone else is free to do it. [1]
[edit] France????
is khat legal in france?
No. Added info. Miserlou 20:45, 1 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Price Inflation
My math say Kenya exports at $2 per pound and the US imports it at $25 per pound. Really!? I wonder how man pounds of rice it would take to buy a pound of Khat in Mog? --Rcollman 23:40, 2 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] khat in canada
News http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2007/01/26/tor-khat.html —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Sonjaaa (talk • contribs) 18:31, 26 January 2007 (UTC).
[edit] DJIBOUTI
Shouldn't Djibouti be mentioned in this too ? It's legal and widely used there too.
[edit] uncited
On May 17, 2007 200 lbs. of Khat was found in a self storage facility in Louisville, KY.
uncited "fact" entered by an isp that has had been respoonsible for some vandalism. I'm not sure if it is a legit edit or not, and do not know how to cite the block as needing more inforation, can anyone verify this? Childhoodtrauma 18:46, 20 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Qat (Khat - photo and Djibouti
As far as I can see the plannt despicted is not Catha edulis, a better photo is needed. It is quite correct that Djibouti should be included as an area consuming large amounts of Qat.
>> the plant pictured is in fact Catha edulis.
[edit] Examples of why this article needs work
"Children start chewing Khat at the age of 10."
Really? Not 9 or 11?
From the article:
"In Yemen it is so popular that 40% of the country's water supply goes towards irrigating it, with the percentage increasing by about 10% to 15% every year."
The same fact, from the source cited (the BBC):
"Of the country's scarce water, 40% goes on irrigating khat - and khat cultivation is increasing by 10% to 15% a year."
Not really the same thing, is it?
Finally, this statement:
"Withdrawal symptoms that may follow prolonged khat use include lethargy, mild depression, nightmares, and slight tremor. Long term use can precipitate the following effects: negative impact on liver function, permanent tooth darkening (of a greenish tinge), susceptibility to ulcers, and diminished sex drive. Khat is usually not an addictive drug, although there are some people who cannot stay without it for more than 4-5 days. They feel tired and have difficulty concentrating."
So it isn't very addictive, but there are well-documented withdrawal symptoms? There is no source for the "not very addictive" statement anyway...and any fool can see that huge swaths of the population in certain countries are horribly addicted. Thus the withdrawal.
Not trying to throw stones here - I know nothing about Qat and have no business editing the article. But this article need a lot of work to be up to standard, and the three examples cited here are eggregious enough that I have added a Disputed tag. I hope some of the contributors who actually know a little bit about this substance will have a look. Kgdickey 13:21, 2 July 2007 (UTC)
While the only knowledge I have of the substance is from a book by P.J. O'Rourke, I cleaned up the article and integrated or corrected a lot. I'm just wondering, but do we need the list of countries and the status of Khat in them? The list could go on for a while, and I think except in certian cases (Australia and New Zealand, Great Britain) if it's simply a controlled substance we can list it as part of some form of a group, along with places it is uncontrolled. That would allow us to expand without making the article larger than it needs to be. In my opinion, we can also take out the section on Somalia from that group, since its content has been mentioned other places in the article. Ageofe 02:54, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
The language journal VERBATIM (see www.verbatimmag.com), nominally a quarterly publlication but somewhat irregular in its appearance, has in the September, 2007, issue a lengthy piece on the experience and pleasures of chewing Khat (Qat) that may be worth noting in this article. Frankatca 16:34, 8 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Khat and allergies
I have found that chewing khat helps with my allergies and my breathing in general. It seems to do a very good job at unblocking my nose. Does anyone know if there is a correlation between the two?
VFRog 22:20, 25 October 2007 (UTC)
Added Jan 18 08: The active ingredients in khat are chemically very similar to phenylpropanolamine (referred to in the main article as norephedrine.) Phenylpropanolamine is a decongestant that was removed from the market due to safety concerns. Phenylpropanolamine is chemically similar to ephedrine, a decongestant and bronchodialator that is still sold OTC as an asthma medicine, and is somewhat similar to pseudophedrine (Sudafed), an isomer of ephedrine sold as a decongestant. So, yes, khat would likely have decongestant effects, but it would be safer (both medically and legally) to use Sudafed instead, or maybe ephedrine (say, Primatene tablets or Bronkaid) if Sudafed doesn't work for you.
[edit] Qat in South Africa
Regarding this statement:
In the town of Bohmensaka, South Africa the consumption of this product has been noted to date back to the 1500's. Tribes would chew on these at festivals and large gatherings. Khat was a delicacy to the natives and was customary to their nature.
I've never heard of the town of Bohmensaka, and Google returns nothing except links to this reference! Also, tribes don't tend to live in towns, or they certainly didn't in the 1500s. Finally, Khat... was customary to their nature is a nonsensical statement. I'd like to remove this.
Caroline Greenway 02:19, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Proper usage of Khat / Absorption route (WILL I EVER GET AN ANSWER To THIS??)
Should the Khat juice that forms when chewing the leaves be left and swished in your mouth for mucous membrane absorption (like LSD) or should it be swallowed for gastrointestinal absorption (like alcohol/ecstasy)?
"When the khat leaves are chewed, cathine and cathinone are released and absorbed through the mucous membranes of the mouth and the lining of the stomach"- Based on that information and http://leda.lycaeum.org , you're supposed to have it like chewing tobacco but there are a variety of other ways you can do it. Ageofe (talk) 19:09, 30 May 2008 (UTC)
