Saturday, July 29, 2006
The Khat In The Hat!
The men are among 44 people arrested around the country by the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Members of the local Somali community says this is a case of a cultures clashing.
"Khat has been part of Somali culture for many years," said Omar Jamal, director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center.
"In their minds, their not committing any crimes. Those people feel that Khat is very normal, like having a cup of coffee in the morning. It's an obvious clash of two different cultures, two different legal systems, two different mind sets..."
14 Arrested in Seattle in Khat Sting:
DEA agents arrested 14 members of greater Seattle's Somali community, each on two felony counts of conspiracy to import and distribute the drug that is commonly chewed like tobacco in countries such as Somalia, Yemen, Kenya and Ethiopia. If found guilty, they could face up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. All 14 pleaded not guilty and were held pending further court appearances.
On the streets of Muslim communities in Great Britain, local grocery markets legally sell a narcotic stimulant called khat (pronounced "cot"”). Green bundles of the leafy plant wrapped in banana leaves sit inside beverage coolers next to Snapple and Coca-Cola.
Khat is chewed like tobacco to produce a euphoric state that can turn into an outburst of irrational violence according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. It is imported from places like Yemen, Kenya and Somalia into Great Britain at the rate of some 30 tons per month. It is sold legally throughout Great Britain, mostly in neighborhoods densely populated by North African Muslim immigrants to whom khat chewing at home is as common as coffee drinking in America.
Khat has been grown for use as a stimulant for centuries in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. There, chewing khat predates the use of coffee and is used in a similar social context. Its fresh leaves and tops are chewed or, less frequently, dried and consumed as tea, in order to achieve a state of euphoria and stimulation.
I can't be the only person who is tired of hearing lawbreakers trying to explain or blame their actions on being "a cultural thaaang." You break the law of the country you are IN and you've broken the law. The "culture and customs of the old country" just doesn't play into the matter.
If you break the law of the country you are IN you need to be ready to face the consequences. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. And I write this as someone who firmly believes that the War on Drugs is a waste of time and a complete failure (and some of you Liberals out there think I'm a "Right Winger" - ha!).
So until drugs are legalized the law of the land is what has to trump "culture".
Oh Dave, you're ranking "our culture" above other cultures, you're such a xenophobe. Uh - far from that. Should the U.S. allow criminals to be punished by being stoned to death because that is how an immigrant's prior culture does it?
Consider...In 1980 the World Health Organization classified khat as a drug of abuse that can produce mild to moderate psychic dependence.
Cathine is in Schedule IV and cathinone is in Schedule I of the U.S. Controlled Substance Act. The 1993 DEA rule placing cathinone in Schedule I noted that it was effectively also banning khat:
Cathinone is the major psychoactive component of the plant Catha edulis (khat). The young leaves of khat are chewed for a stimulant effect. Enactment of this rule results in the placement of any material which contains cathinone into Schedule I.
In the UK, Cathine and Cathinone are Class C drugs. The plant Catha edulis is uncontrolled. In Germany, Cathine is a controlled substance, and ownership and sale of the plant is illegal. Similar levels of control exist throughout most other European countries.
Well, I don't know any Liberal that would disagree with the WHO, right?
And we always wondered why the Cat acted a little goofy!
©2006
: 4:43 PM, July 28, 2006 The ANSWER to you question is: Resoundingly YES! And I'm not implying it, damn, I'm SAYING IT, there's never been one great liberal in Am. History.
BTW- that post is 3 weeks old. Are you a slow reader or slow typist? Hey, it's a joke, laugh...I forgot, Anonymous, I don't think you have a sense of humor.
Next time post the comment to the relevent post so people know what you're talking about. It's called "continuity".
"Here khaty khaty!"
"Khat Scratch Fever!"
Stop me, please!
: 7:15 PM, July 31, 2006 MrsNesbitt - I like Khat Scratch Fever. Good line.
thanks for the comments & for visiting Guy and MrsN
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