Khat Blogging

(Dodge City, Kansas) A Dodge City resident originally from Somalia, Ahmed Abdulle, was arrested last Saturday for allegedly possessing khat.

Khat is an evergreen shrub that contains two controlled substances: cathinone (Schedule I) and cathine (Scheduled IV).

Khat is used for its stimulant effects by an estimated 10 million people, primarily in east Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. When consumed by chewing, smoking or brewing into tea, khat produces effects similar to methamphetamine or cocaine.

The fact that khat is used extensively in the regions around the Horn of Africa is not news nor is it news that khat is being smuggled into the U.S. However, it is newsworthy that khat is for sale in small-town mid-America. I suggest that distribution of the drug far exceeds any reporting about it.

Interestingly, it has been contended that virtually the entire populations of Somalia and Yemen begin each day with khat. By mid-afternoon, essentially every human, horizon to horizon, is half-lit which I believe contributes to the inability to govern the region effectively. Imagine for a moment, an entire region depending on law and order as defined by the khat-muddled brains of teen boys with AK-47s.

In any event, Ahmed Abdulle has been charged with possession of the drug with the intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school, possession of paraphernalia and possession or distribution without a tax stamp. He was booked into custody and later released on $25,000 bond.