you are the english man i think. we only know how to spell it in amharic. I think it is spelled as khat but in amharic it is read as chat...so you can spell it as chat if you want to pronouce it well as habesha people do! Qat could be the way it is spelled in yemen...not really sure.
I donot think k/chat is as bad as not-chewers think it is. It just gives you enough concentration and makes you high. One medical doctor ones told me it contains amphitamine but i have not heard from any body else about its ingredients. But recently I met a person doing research on k/chat and he said there are reports of many people having psychological problems. But I think, it is how you take it..k/chat for use or abuse. sure you are right,it is not as bad as alcohol. I ones used it for my exams and still honour it for the concentration and moral it gave me and i still appreciate the results.
The fact that it give moral always amazes to me. It is said during the Ethiopian somali war, Ethiopian forces(as non-chat chewers at that time) pushed into the somali territory while the somali forces pushed back into Ethiopian territory after chewing chat. If the UK is to ban it, may be we should tell our farmers to export it to iraq. It can surely be used well and I think there is a lot of money out there..and what do they call it...Boost morale?...yeah..boost moral with k/chat!

Most of you who leave comments in here really crack me up. There is nothing wrong with expressing your ideas but you try too much to appear intellectuals and try to sound "superior" and it shows it is not really you, please try to be yourselfs. Am sure Andrew has observed it but hasn't mentioned it out of politness. Great Blog by the way.

Observer, thanks for the kind comment about the blog. I have to disagree with you about the commenters though. Personaly, I think the comments section contains some of the best writing on MeskelSquare.

Personal[l]y? intellectuals? yourself... hmmmm, you sure are being yourself- good on you.;-D
No offence
Back to QKChat: Recreational use aside, it's a menace in Ethiopia- it numbs the pain (whether due to poverty, illness or simply being spoilt) that your life is causing you, it makes you work less, you make less money but spend more on Chat... You drive your Isuzu like an Al Qaeda...
Bad stuff, but what can the farmers do?

Just look at this -- community leaders want to ban kh/ch/qat in the UK for the following three reasons.(source:The Guardian-Community leaders call for Khat to be made illegal)

1. There are financial implications for many male users who have large families dependant on them, but they spend money on Khat instead.

2. It has social implications as users like to gather together to chew the drug, causing them to be away from their families for long periods.

3. And when the drug is smoked, users gather in small unhygienic rooms for long periods. This is unhealthy and affects many aspects of health apart from those direct from the use of the drug."

okay then..

Sweets should be banned because children should not ask money from their parents to buy sweets, cigarrettes should be banned because many beautiful girls smoke too much in europe and that aint good to look at, alcohol should be banned because many men are happier when they are drinking in bars than when they are with their wives at home and that aint good for many housewives,...what are these 'leaders' anyway, ...kindergarten teachers?

Hi,

Some US antiterror officials think that the khat trade is linked to funding terrorist groups.

So the sudden excitement......

hi
this is not eassy to ban the khat or qat or chat espcially in ethiopia or eastern ormoia the life of the ppl depending on khat they can not do any thing with out khat and also very important to get the money from the khat i know the khat is very good to me and i was staretd chewing khat when i was 10 years old and now i am 28 years old i have never seen any illines or any problem related with khat and when i study i used to chewing the khat and concentrated on what i am studing and happy and understanding
and and i know one lady her name is sura she is one the billonar exporting from ethiopa and she paying 4 the geverment tax $8 milon per year so how they can ban this all this imposible according to my opinon

I would like to comment about the Banning Khat in Britain.

Khat is Mother of all deceases and must be cured

Khat prevents integration and community cohesion

Khat is biggest treat for our youths and community faces this 21st century and must be banned by all means

There is over 300,000 Somalis in UK and we are calling British Government to take action and Ban this evil drug.

I am calling all Somalis in UK to contact their Local MP and demand to do something this drug.

I hope our home secretary will realize the problems of this Drug and he will ban a soon as possible. Otherwise we don’t have a choice but to Vote conservative government next general election.

Kaysar Abdilahi
kaysar@london.com
London. UK

thank u!

hi,

i was in yemen with my friend where khat is traditionally enjoyed by the yemeni people and of all ages. You can find old grandfathers and small boys chewing this plant..

I chew ocassionally aswell and it help clean your teeth, good for your stomach. Khat also makes me work a lot, it helps me to focus on projects.. and makes doing them easier. Its amazing.

You either like khat or you dont like it.. i cant see how it can be a danger to people or become addictive.. as i have treid it my self and know other people also chewing.

long live khat..!

So it is actually spelled Khat. I recently visited a small town in Africa where it is very popular. I reason we have band it in the states it because it seems to have the same addictive quilities as meth and heroin. It also has the same effects as x/e and speed. Which are all band here. Also the DEA decided that since it was such a growing drug that by giving people the right to use it it would become more popular then alcohol. It impairs peoples functions. and also there brains so it is considered a narrcotic! Thats why the U.S. has banned the use and possestion of the Drug.

my husband chews khat. he goes out in the evening, comes home in the morning, then he sleeps during the day. we have three young children. i have to look after them very much like a single mum. it is not fair and i know there are many more women who suffer because of khat just like me.