Khat. A harmless natural stimulant or a lethal epidemic sweeping through the international drugs trade?

Khat is a natural substance that, in the Middle East, is as ubiquitous as coffee is in the West. It is hugely popular in some African and Arab populations. But critics contend that it is a seriously addictive stimulant that damages the cardiovascular system.

In a groundbreaking study, the authors go behind the veil of the drug, questioning its availability and its effect on its Red Sea producers. Interwoven with case studies from Djibouti to Rome, The Khat Controversy goes deeper to explore contemporary issues relating to globalization, ethnicity and culture. With its popularity escalating in London, Rome, Toronto and Copenhagen, khat is fast becoming a problem in the West.

The first study of this contested drug, The Khat Controversy provides a concise introduction to the issues surrounding khat usage and suggests how policymakers should address them.

The Khat Controversy: Stimulating the Debate on Drugs has received an honorable mention for the African Studies Association's 2008 Melville J. Herskovits Award

About the editors

David Anderson is Lecturer in African Studies, University of Oxford and Research Fellow, St Cross College, Oxford.
Susan Beckerleg is an International Consultant and specializes on the social aspects of illicit substance use.
Degol Hailu is a research academic at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. He is currently on leave from SOAS and works for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as policy advisor for the Caribbean region.
Axel Klein is Lecturer in Addictive Studies at the Kent Institute of Medicine and Health Studies, University of Kent.

Contents

List of Figures, Tables Maps
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction

1. Going Global: The Khat Controversy
Khat and its effects
Mogadiscio to Minneapolis
Trust technology

Part I Khat in the Horn
2. Devil's Cud or Farmers' Boon?
Diversifying in the dollar leaf
Ethiopia's khat farmers
Foreign exchange, taxation the khat economy

3. Trading the Dollar Leaf
Ethiopia's khat markets
The export trade

4. Consuming Habits along the Red Sea Littoral
The Ethiopian heartlands
Urban Djibouti
Somaliland

Part II Khat in East Africa
5. Made in Meru: A Market History
Traditions colonial controls
Co-operatives exports
Khat wars a global brand

6. Kenya's Khat Trade
Nyambene beyond
Reaching the consumer
Campaigning against khat

7. On the Khat Frontier: Uganda
Uganda's 'new' producers
Hidden retailing
Surveying consumption

Part III Khat in the Diaspora
8. The Ambivalent Amphetamine
Strains and tensions
A Mafrish in the neighbourhood

9. Transnational Debates
International trade
Khat and crime
The social issues

10. The Politics of Khat Control
The khat control lobby
Khat in Canadian
The Swedish story

Conclusion
11. Prohibition? Khat and the Drugs Debate

Appendix A: List of Informants
Bibliography
Index