British government refuses to ban qat [Archives:2006/925/Reportage]
March 2 2006
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Despite months of pressure to ban it, the British government has decided not to outlaw the favorite drug of London's Yemeni and Somali communities.
Every couple of days London's Heathrow Airport receives a strange cargo. Bundles and bundles of shrub wrapped in banana leaves arriving on planes from Yemen and East Africa. This is qat – a mild narcotic, which after years of wrangling, is still legal in the UK.
Users gather in groups across the country every afternoon to chew the freshly harvested bush. As the men sit – qat-chewing is a very male affair – munching, talking and drinking tea, the leaves release a stimulant that has been compared to alcohol or cannabis.
The drug is illegal in the US, Canada, parts of Europe and many Arab countries, and over the past few months, calls have been growing for it to be criminalised in the UK too.
One of the members of parliament voicing her concern is Labour politician Kerry McCarthy.
\”A significant number of people in the Somali community tell me they think it ought to be banned because of its effect on families
