Khat (Catha edulis)
Chewing Khat
By Peter Kalix
© 1986 World Health Organization.
More than seven centuries ago, a medical book written in Arabic recorded the effects of chewing Khat. Today several million people in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula are habitual chewers.
The chewing of leaves of the khat shrub (Catha edulis) is common in certain countries of East Africa and the Arabian peninsula, and some khat users are subject to psychic dependence on the drug. The effects of khat are somewhat similar to those induced by amphetamine.
Recently, the alkaloid cathinone has been isolated from khat leaves and this substance produces effects in animals that are analogous to those of amphetamine and that correlate well with the effects observed in humans after chewing khat.
The use of khat as a stimulant is thought to antedate that of coffee, and the first written account of the effects of khat appeared more than seven centuries ago in an Arabic medical book.
Today, several million people are habitual khat chewers. Formerly, the use of the material was confined to the regions where the plant was grown, because only the fresh leaves give the desired stimulating effect.
But in recent years the habit has expanded considerably because khat can be transported much more rapidly to distant places.
The main effects of chewing khat are a moderate degree of euphoria and excitation often accompanied by loquacity. High doses may induce hyperactivity and, sometimes, manic behaviour.
Although there have been several reports of cases of psychosis due to khat chewing, this is rather exceptional, probably because of the physical limits to the dose that can be absorbed.
Khat is an effective anorectic that is it diminishes the appetite, and this largely explains the malnutrition often seen in habitual khat users. It also causes hyperthermia and an increase in respiration.
The effects of khat are, of course, difficult to quantify since the leaves are a non-standardised material the potency of which depends on freshness; and origin, and there are certainly differences between chewers in the efficiency of the mastication process.
The international organizations were confronted with the problems associated with khat as early as 1935, when the League of Nations Advisory Committee on the Traffic of Dangerous Drugs discussed two technical reports on the subject.
Through the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, international attention was once again directed to the nature and extent of khat use, and in 1971 the Commission Laboratory should reinvestigate the chemical composition of khat.
These studies led to the isolation from khat leaves of an alkaloid that is chemically similar to amphetamine and for which the name cathinone was suggested. It was also observed that, to a certain extent, the cathinone content correlated with the market price of khat.
Active principle
Once this substance was recognized as the major active principle of the leaves, it was synthesized and made available to pharmacologists through WHO, which also appointed an advisory group to carry out an initial survey of the pharmacological properties of the new alkaloid.
These studies revealed that the pharmacological profile of cathinone closely resembles that of amphetamine.
In experiments with such animals as rats and monkeys, which were trained to administer cathinone to themselves, the pattern observed was described as spree-type: the animals took the drug frequently day and night, stopping only upon becoming exhausted and beginning again after recovery. This pattern corresponds to that seen in amphetamine-dependent humans.
Thus, in terms of pharmacology, the chewing of a portion of khat is tantamount to ingesting amphetamine, a fact discovered mainly through the impetus given by WHO to the identification and pharmacological investigation of the new compound.
This finding shows that there is a certain degree of danger associated with cathinone use. Although immediate and severe medical problems are infrequent with khat use (because the cathinone is diluted in the other material of the leaves).
Books Eating the Flowers of Paradise:
A Journey Through the Drug Fields
of Ethiopia and Yemen
Kevin Rushby set out to travel the old Qat Road from the highlands of Ethiopia to Yemen. It was to prove a fascinating and dangerous journey.
His travels are not just in pursuit of the history and culture of qat, for he quickly learns that the pleasure of the plant is in the companionship of using it.
--Kirkus Reviews
Eating the Flowers (softcover) Eating the Flowers (hardcover) Phantastica:
A Classic Survey on the Use
and Abuse of Mind-Altering Plants
Long out of print, this is a landmark study on narcotic and psychedelic substances by a world-renowned pharmacologist and toxicologist. The first book to bring non-judgmental scientific insights to the use of drugs around the world.
Provides detailed information on all major drugs of the time, including qat, opium, cocaine, heroin, cannabis, peyote, fly agaric, henbane, datura, alcohol, kava, betel, coffee, tea, cocoa, and tobacco. A book credited with starting an era of ethnobotany.
Phantastica The Flower of Paradise:
The Institutionalized Use of
the Drug Qat in North Yemen
The book explores the centuries old ritual of using Qat in North Yemen. Interesting and informative, it gives the reader a glimpse into a society that most are not aware of.
The Flower of Paradise (softcover) The Flower of Paradise (hardcover)