(BBC News) — There are fears that the stimulant khat is contributing to mental health problems within the UK’s east African communities. Dil Neiyyar of the BBC’s Asian Network reports.
In a courtyard, two men sitting on a bench are staring intensely at a pond.
The pair appear mesmerised by the gentle and repetitive splash of the water from a small fountain.
This walled oasis in London’s East End is the Tower Hamlets branch of the mental health charity Mind.
In one of its many rooms, Abdi Rahman is playing pool with a friend.
He explains why he thinks the stimulant khat is responsible for the loss of his job and subsequent slide into mental illness.
“While I was working as a postman I got depressed and stressed, so I was admitted to hospital, and at the same time I was using khat as well, so they all added up and eventually I ended up mentally ill.”
Roukiya Omar is one of the workers whose job is to educate the community about the dangers of khat use and encourage people to stop chewing.
She believes the stimulant is moving away from its traditional use as a social pastime because of unemployment and social exclusion. She says it’s a growing problem, particularly with women.
“[They are] resorting to khat to seek any comfort from the real problems they are having,” she says.
“It’s like with any addiction, when people can’t handle life they just go and get a drink or go for drugs, so khat is becoming something like that.”
About 15 minutes’ walk from Mind is a building which was once home to Captain James Cook. Out of its dilapidated basement, Ahmed Abdillah runs a “khat house” where the plant can be bought and consumed.
Today there are three men sitting on the floor.
They all have a tell-tale vacant stare and their clothes have seen better days. One of the men describes how chewing khat can feel.
“It gives a little bit of a high but not as high as a drug or high as alcohol, it just makes you relaxed and comfortable and then you just enjoy yourself.”
Ahmed, the owner of the khat house, has no reservations about selling the substance that he says isn’t harmful if used in moderation.
“When you do it 24 hours, chewing, you become like an alcoholic… I eat four pieces a day, and no problem for me. When I eat, wake up in the morning, go to work – no problem.”
Twice a week, Ahmed drives to Heathrow to pick up a fresh delivery.
Social lives
Around seven tonnes of khat is flown into Britain every week from Ethiopia, Kenya and Yemen and then sold in cities with large east African communities like London and Birmingham for about £4 a bunch.
The khat plant, Catha edulis , has been chewed by east Africans for hundreds of years and plays a large part in the social lives of both men and women.
A typical session might consist of consuming several bundles.
Cathinone and cathine are the main ingredients of the plant. Both are class C drugs in the UK, but the plant khat itself is not classified and can be bought openly in shops.
Cathinone is almost identical to amphetamines and it is this that creates a high. It’s known to cause mental health problems like psychosis and depression.
At the Mile End Hospital in Tower Hamlets, consultant psychiatrist Dr Eleni Palazidou treats many people from the Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities, and claims khat is a serious factor in many of these cases.
She says it exacerbates existing mental health problems but believes it can also directly trigger psychosis if used in excess. One of the main problems facing treatment of these effects is habitual usage.
“They may have a new episode triggered off by the use of khat or they may get better from an episode of illness and they chew khat and go back to square one,” she says.
“It’s difficult to effectively control their illness, because it stimulates those particular chemical systems in the brain that we are trying to control with the medication.”
The Home Office says it is aware of the concerns surrounding the side-effects of khat but that it stands by the decision in 2005 not to classify it after it took advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
It reported that “the extent of khat use in the UK is relatively low” and that the evidence of harm resulting from khat use is “insufficient, relative to those drugs that are under control”.
However, it continues to keep an eye on the matter, with plans to improve understanding of khat misuse and the impact on communities.
But that doesn’t go far enough for the Conservative Party, which plans to ban the plant if it gets into power.
Tory spokesman for social cohesion, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, believes that advice and education about khat is simply not enough to tackle the problem.
“When there are barriers to the equality of opportunity and when there are barriers to integration – like a drug which is disproportionately affecting a certain community – then it is the responsibility of government to deal with that.
“This government’s not dealing with it and that’s why we’re setting a very clear direction as to what we in government will do.”
12 thoughts on “Mental health fears over khat use”
I would appreciate if there is an NGO that educates people about the dangers of khat, a lot many people are suffering at Amanuel hospital. Khat has been responsible for people loosing their job, pyschosis problems, family disintegration etc…
Khat has been much commen with the Woyanne regime, not with Mengsitu’s or the emperior and it should be considered as our enemy. You will see a lot of people with mental problem (yebecheche) in Dire Dawa and now adays in Addis too. We need to fight it the way we fight woyane! The human, economic and social cost will be ireversable unless something is done now.
– Former addict of khat and now works signle handly his contribution to educate friends and compatriots in Ethiopia
As the saying goes,”old traditions die hard.”Our old traditions,habits which should have been nipped in the bud long ago, have now crossed over the greatest oceans and created havoc overseas.It is sad indeed to see such negative development.If chewing the poisionous plant has proved to be a cause for mental ilness why dont the concerned countries ban and weedout the plant from the agricultural fields of the sourse countries, namely,Ethiopia, Kenya,Uganda and Yemen?
These countries have food shortages, and hence should focus on food production rather than Chat drug.Let me add a funny story related to Chat chewing.I heared that the unabashed brytal dictator,Meles Zenawi chews chat.He asserted this in one of the interviews he gave to local journalists prior to the celebration of the Millinium.The reason he gave was, it was reported,voracious reading.He is a bad example for young Ethiopians.
By the way I heard that Khat is good for people who want to do constructive work so that they can easily motivate. On the contrary Khat is the worst tool for the weyane gangsters including meles that he organizes his followers for destructive purposes in various plans including harassing and killing innocent civilians, giving land to a neighborhood country and destroying Ethiopia as whole. Of course kaht is also improperly used by the so called EPRP members that have been a cause for many of their trash propaganda based on cult that is only targeting major opposition strong leaders like Dr. Birhnau and others. I have known many Ethiopians tend to do the same thing after they chew Khat. Some people like to drink, some people like to watch TV, some people like to walk and some people who are baseless but want to stay in the Ethiopian politics write a bunch of cult articles after they chew which would be posted on ethiolion . debeteraw and Maheder. Finally, I would say those who gets depressed and stressed and ends up to mental illness are the weyane destructive regime and the confused EPRP members, since we can clearly be able to see their daily objective around our area.
Meles has mental problem b/c of the khat.
That is the reason for Meles
& Lidetu confusion
That means Meles who eats ch’at every day is crazy. Only a mental case does what he does.
Let me tell you about the effect of khat, it doesn’t make you aggressive or bad man like meles instead it makes you calm, friendly and more respectful person.
Meles is not taking khat he is mixing unnamed drug coming from Albania with khat. That make him very unstabble,lonely sleepless and murderer!
Why this people is against khat? Is it because it is worst than their drug and worst than their alchol and others what we see on the downtown streets of DC, NY, Toronto and London … No I don’t think so truly.
I am telling you honestly if you chew khat once in a while for gathering with friends and to study longer hours at university nothing wrong on it but fun and you will be result oriented by socializing as well as working hard.
Remember my point I said if you chew once in a while with limitted amount!!! As we all know everything above the limit is harmful to our body even food!!!
But but don’t do it daily it is so much better than going and drinking beer everday(that I call it dangerous compare to chewing khat once in two week), Of course you don’t even have time to do it daily I guss.
Finally why the meles administration ban Khat in Tigray Province only, who advised him to do so? If anybody knows the answer for this question, get back to me I will ppreciate that.
Till then get one” Fresh Rebetta” for fun guys!
Dire
I think every problem in ethiopia, even khat, is becuase of woyane.The khat during the Derg era was ok. I heard woyannes are putting some kind of chemical on khat farms which makes the chewers crazy. They want to make every ethiopian crazy.
hey guys let me tell u one thing. if Elias Kifle was chewing chat he wouldn’t have committed all these blunders that he is committing today. Ha ha ha ha ha ha…..
I think elias is chewing khat everyday 10AM to 8PM. Out of that time you can’t even see him suggesting any thing because he becomes peaceful.
Yes, Elias anyways forgive me if I exposed you for those who do know you before.
Kifle
It’s a choice of enjoyment,some ppl like herbal bush,some ppl ALCHOL(legal toxic),some tobaco(legal bush),some ppl chew herbal chat(in some contries it’s illegal in us,canada,some EU countries)…I like herbs,have fun every body!”take it to the LIMIT,…ONE MORE TIME!” by THE EAGLES.
i strongly recommend to all that drugs have the potential to alter our level of consciousness.so not try to consume them,unless if at all they prescibed by your medical quides.