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Framing the Chew: Narratives of Development, Drugs and Danger with Regard to Khat (Catha edulis)

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Prohibition, Religious Freedom, and Human Rights: Regulating Traditional Drug Use

Abstract

Khat has become increasingly subject to legal regulation in European and North American countries, even though there is very little consumption among mainstream populations. The regulation of khat has been introduced for the “protection” of migrant populations, and is sometimes even demanded by anti-khat campaigners. The unintended consequence of these bans, once introduced, is that migrant populations are targeted by law enforcement. This has not helped these groups’ social integration nor promoted public health. What has not been considered in the discussion is the effect on khat farmers. Khat has been an engine of development for parts of Kenya and Ethiopia. It has also provided an opportunity for capital accumulation in Somaliland. It is a major source of revenue across the region. The positions of all stakeholders must be considered when defining the regulatory context, as well as the dimension of community cohesion and the potential for development.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This has not stopped the Swedish anti-khat campaigner Renee Besseling from citing the Koran in her arguments to sway Islamic immigrants against chewing khat (Omar and Besseling 2008).

  2. 2.

    Or rather, financial support for a lifestyle that includes the production of research.

  3. 3.

    Arguably, with the exception of Hagigat, a pill form containing synthetic methcathinone, popular as a legal high in Israel—and of course mephedrone,4-methylmethcathinone. In 2010, this synthetic stimulant became the symbolic legal high in the UK and other European countries. Though brought under control in 2010, it continues to enjoy popularity as an MDMA substitute particularly in the nightclub and party scene. The active ingredients are the cathinone derivatives methcathinone and methylone.

  4. 4.

    In the UK, one of the most vociferous proponents of khat control in 2011 was the Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes, Frank Lancaster. As a loyal member of the Conservative Party, he also supported strict reductions in immigration.

  5. 5.

    Value for the imperial power at first: The perversity in the colonial discourse is that colonial officials are promoting policies designed to improve the material well being of a people who they have no mandate for, a people who never asked to be governed by the officials and their class, and whose interests are often in conflict with those of the administrators and of the imperial power.

  6. 6.

    As was demonstrated by the expansion of cocoa farming in West Africa in response to opportunities during the late colonial era.

  7. 7.

    GIZ: Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit; DfID: Department for International Development; USAID: United States Agency for International Development; CIDA: Canadian International Development Agency.

  8. 8.

    In the UK in 2008, the unpopular Gordon Brown government changed the status of cannabis against the advice of the ACMD experts. In Jamaica, the findings of the 2000 Ganja commission were discarded after warnings by the US ambassador about the consequences (Klein 2001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. C1 Darwin College, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, CT27PD, UK

    Axel Klein

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  1. Axel Klein
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Correspondence to Axel Klein .

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  1. Center for Economic Research And Education, Aguascalientes, Mexico

    Beatriz Caiuby Labate

  2. Nucleurs for Interdisciplinary Studies of Psychoactives, San Francisco, California, USA

    Clancy Cavnar

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Klein, A. (2014). Framing the Chew: Narratives of Development, Drugs and Danger with Regard to Khat (Catha edulis). In: Labate, B., Cavnar, C. (eds) Prohibition, Religious Freedom, and Human Rights: Regulating Traditional Drug Use. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40957-8_7

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