Qat: The Controversial Leaves

1
Qat The Controversial Leaves

• What are the effects of Qat?
• Why do some people chew Qat?
• Mention three countries in which Qat is chewed?
• What characteristics make a good Qat?
• Is Qat illegal?
• Would you chew Qat if I offer you now?

2
What is Qat?

• Qat is a shrub with green leaves all around the
  year thats because it overcomes climate changes.
  
  
• It is grown on hills that ascend at least 800
  meters over sea level.
  
• Qat leaves contain Nopicedo Phiderin and Cathin
  which have the same effect of Amphetamines, each
  of those cause certain glands to secrete some
  chemicals that makes the person who is chewing
  Qat feel vigorous and energetic in the first
  hours, but after few hours some people start to
  feel depressed and anxious

3
80 of adult population of Yemen use Qat

• Apparently it is taken socially to
• produce excitation
• banish sleep
• promote communication
• to resist the feelings of hunger and fatigue

4

• Since Qat was discovered in Ethiopia, it spreaded
  quickly to African countries and to Yemen.
  
• Qat is chewed in Yemen, Somalia, Djibouti,
  Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and
  South Africa.
  
• Now Qat is becoming increasingly available in
  the US, UK and other western countries were it is
  commonly sold in restaurants, bars, grocery
  stores, and smoke shops that cater to East
  Africans and Yemenis after its importation from
  Kenya, Egypt, and Arabia.

5
Qat Markets

• In Yemen, Qat is bought in special markets where
  nothing else is for sale.
  
• You have to bargain a lot to get to a reasonable
  price. In Yemen the price ranges between 3 and
  50 per pack but it is much more expensive
  abroad.
• Qat is usually packaged in plastic bags or
  wrapped in banana leaves to retain its moistness
  and freshness. It is often sprinkled with water
  during transport to keep the leaves moist.
• Qat also may be sold as dried or crushed leaves
  or in powdered form.
  

6
Opinions of western researchers who chewed Qat

• With a bundle under the arm then closing the
  door to the outside world, choosing the leaves,
  gently crushing them with the teeth and waiting
  for the drug to take effect. No rush, just a
  silky transition, scarcely noticed, and then the
  room casts loose its moorings. "Capturing moments
  of eternity," someone once called the subtle
  tinkering with time that qat effects. After two
  years I no longer knew if life was good because
  of Yemen or because of qat.
• Kevin RushbyEating the Flowers of Paradise
• In Sanaa, as a rule of thumb, the longer the
  branch, the more prestigious it is less
  image-conscious chewers - and I am one of them -
  buy qatal, the pickings from the lower branches.
  
• Tim Mackintosh-SmithYemen - Travels in
  Dictionary Land
  
• I AM an American. I have recently researched the
  events in Somalia of October 1993. Qat is the
  drug that made the Somalians feel they were
  invincible to our US Rangers and Delta Forces (
  unknown )

7

• There are a lot of activist who stand against
  chewing Qat for the following reasons
  
• The chemicals which is used to kill insects
  leaving on Qat leaves causes cancer, disorders in
  the liver, bad effects on pregnancy and many
  other diseases.
• Qat consumes the underground water, and that is
  a serious problem in a water-scarce country like
  Yemen.
  
• On the financial side, some people live in a
  very poor situation, and yet they are spending
  their money on Qat.
  
• Chewing Qat prevent a huge slice of population
  from doing anything that benefit them or their
  country in their leisure time which they usually
  spend in this habit.