Khaad in pictures.

[Xargaga]

Wariyaa SYL stop those pics sxb, wallh dhareerkii aa nagakentay. It was long since i saw such a fresh kilo of GIZA. :rolleyes: :eek: :rolleyes:

[Hunguri]

Originally posted by SYL:

 

 

Waar bahalku qurux waynaa. Anigu arigiisa ayaanba ku mirqaamay . Saaxiib, are you virtually selling it ?? Do you have an online site, where I can apply and swap my credit card . Halakala shaqysto!!!

[Jabhad]

^No, I'm not a Khad salesman nor am I Khad chewer.

 

Wariyaa SYL stop those pics sxb, wallh dhareerkii aa nagakentay. It was long since i saw such a fresh kilo of GIZA.

[Jabhad]

Pressure grows against khat trade

By Noel Mwakugu

BBC News website, Nairobi

 

Khat farmer

Khat is harvested every 20 days

 

For decades, khat, or miraa as its popularly known across East Africa, has been the lifeline for farmers in eastern Kenya, but pressure to convince them to abandon the trade is now mounting.

 

The growing numbers of young adults chewing the mild stimulant has become a major concern among anti-drugs campaigners who fear dependency could ruin a generation.

 

Some 30 tonnes of khat are harvested each day by both small- and large-scale khat farmers who cultivate the crop in Meru District. Most of the crop is consumed in Kenya, but some is exported to Somalia and United Kingdom.

 

Somalia

 

Traders say some 3,000kg of khat are flown to Somalia's capital everyday where its chewing has become the norm at social gatherings across Mogadishu.

 

 

PHOTO GALLERY

Amina Haji Mumin

 

In pictures: Growing khat

Widow turns to khat

 

Some blame it for Somalia's misfortunes.

 

During Islamist rule last year it was banned and the streets were the calmest for decades, but there was resistance.

 

Most militiamen have a high dependence on the stimulant and it is argued that it causes them to be irrational and easily provoked.

 

When the Islamist militia seized a consignment worth about $40,000 and set it on fire to mark the beginning of the ban, there was a riot and a curfew had to be imposed to contain the upheaval.

 

But since the Islamists were defeated at the turn of the year, exports of khat from Kenya have resumed and so has its consumption.

 

Kenya

 

Now the pressure to have khat banned is being stepped up in Kenya, where its consumption is on the rise.

 

 

FACTS ABOUT KHAT

Amina Haji Mumin

There are two main types of khat - miraa and hereri

Miraa is grown mainly in Kenya

Hereri comes from Ethiopia

A bundle of khat costs about £3 ($6) in Britain

Khat is illegal in the US and a bundle there sells for between $50 (£28) and $80 (£41)

 

A survey done by the government drug watchdog, National Campaign Against Drugs Abuse, shows a big rise in new users on the coast and in the capital, Nairobi.

 

"Reports by our officers show that when a khat ban was enforced in Somalia the local dealers become very aggressive and were off loading the surplus products into the local market," the watchdog's national co-ordinator Jennifer Kimani told the BBC.

 

Now her organisation is advising the government to initiate a process where khat farmers are gradually encouraged to switch to other cash crops.

 

Apart from the negative health effects to the user, which include loss of appetite, lack of sleep, hallucinations, mental health issues and sometimes impotence, khat is also blamed social problems.

 

For instance in khat-growing areas, cases of boys dropping out of school are rampant.

 

"Boys choose to work at khat plantations or sell the stimulant instead of going to school because there they make quick money," Ms Kimani says.

 

Casual workers at a khat farm can earn up to $20 a shift while small-scale traders in markets across Kenya may earn 10 times that in daily sales.

 

Problems

 

In Mombasa, special restaurants, as seen in Yemen, have been designated as khat joints where groups of adults converge daily to chew the shoots and chat or cut business deals.

 

 

I have not treated anybody suffering from ailments caused by its use

Dr Samuel Murega

But women complain of the long hours their husbands spend in these joints.

 

Imam Arshad Salim Imam says that numerous cases have been brought before religious leaders by women who report that their husbands have abandoned their family responsibilities.

 

"We have women who complain that they do not get their conjugal rights because their husbands remain occupied most of the night chewing khat," says Imam Salim

 

He further notes that a lot of family income is committed to the habit at the expense of other needs like education, food and health.

 

For this reason, Imam Salim insists that the government should impose a ban on khat just like neighbouring Tanzania where it illegal to sell or consume the stimulant.

 

Defence

 

But Dr Samuel Murega, a medic and khat farmer in Maua, eastern Kenya, believes calls to ban the stimulant are misguided.

 

Instead of banning the plant, he thinks the government should license and encourage its growth.

 

He also denies negative health claims.

 

"I run an active health clinic here... but I have not treated anybody suffering from ailments caused by its use," says Dr Murega.

 

"Some people mix khat with other narcotic drugs to get high and they end up in undesirable state. And since they were chewing it openly then the blame goes on the stimulant and not the drugs they have taken which is unfair," argues Dr Murega.

 

At present the trade is probably too lucrative for an imminent ban, but the remarkable changes in behaviour seen in Mogadishu when khat was banned has given officials plenty of food for thought.

[NGONGE]

Originally posted by Tone:

quote:Originally posted by NGONGE:

^^ Were all the Talibans and your beloved ICU as fond of hearsay and rumour as you are?

 

How do you know that Abdullahi Yusuf gets the taxes from these 'illegal' drugs into his bank account?

 

These days, the supporters of the ICU (on this site) are turning out to be shadier, more duplicitous and more partisan than those sharing a bed with the Ethiopians.

 

A bloody shame really.

Pick your side of the fence. Already...

I'm with the sensible people. How about your good self?