Kathstrauch

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Kathstrauch
Cath shrub (Catha edulis)

Cath shrub ( Catha edulis )

Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden I
Order : Spindle tree (Celastrales)
Family : Spindle trees (Celastraceae)
Genre : Catha
Type : Kathstrauch
Scientific name of the  genus
Catha
Forssk. ex Scop.
Scientific name of the  species
Catha edulis
( Vahl ) Forssk. ex Endl.
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blossoms

The Kath shrub ( Catha edulis ), also known as Abyssinian tea , is a type of plant from the spindle tree family (Celastraceae). It is the only species in the genus Catha . The plant is used to make an intoxicating drug and is grown mainly in Kenya , Oman , Yemen, and Ethiopia .

description

The Kathstrauch is grown as a mostly evergreen up to 5–6 meters high and multi-stemmed shrub , but it can grow as a tree to over 20 meters high. It has simple, leathery, bald and more or less glandular-notched, short-stalked, elliptical to obovate, mostly pointed to pointed or rounded-pointed leaves. The leaves, which are lighter on the underside, are arranged alternately on vertical (young, orthotropic) branches or opposite to horizontal (older, plagiotropic) branches. They are about 5–10 inches long and 4–5 inches wide. The small stipules are sloping.

Axillary, multi-flowered, short and zymous inflorescences are formed. The hermaphrodite, very small and whitish to pale yellowish, short-stalked flowers are five-fold with a double flower envelope . The chalice is just small. The short stamens are free. The three-chamber ovary is on top with three very short style branches . It's a meaty, slightly lobed, cup-shaped disc available

Small and loculicidal, elongated capsule fruits are formed, which open in three lobes. It contains up to 3 seeds, the small, brown seeds are winged on one end.

use

Kath , also Kat , Qat , Khat , Qad (ar.قات, DMG qāt ), Gat , Chat or Miraa , is an everyday drug in Yemen as well as Ethiopia , Somalia , northern Kenya and Djibouti . These are the branch tips and young leaves of the Kath shrub, which are consumed as a light intoxicant . In terms of their stimulating effect, they are comparable to caffeine .

Man with Kath in Burao , Somaliland / Somalia

The Kath leaves are plucked from the branches and chewed in the mouth. Depending on your habit, the chewed leaves are collected in the form of balls in the cheek pouch or swallowed slowly. During the day these balls can grow a lot; in the process, they are repeatedly moistened and sucked out. For this it is important to drink water or sweet drinks while chewing Kath. When chewing the cath leaves, the active ingredient cathine , an amphetamine, is mainly absorbed through the oral mucosa . Other active ingredients are norephedrine and cathinone .

Kath must be consumed quickly after picking, as it usually dries up and loses its effect within one to three days. The cultivation is very lucrative and has largely displaced other crops such as coffee and vegetables in Yemen, for example. The cultivation consumes large amounts of water. In Yemen, large areas of arable land have already been destroyed due to the increased water consumption, the associated overloading of reserves and the lowering of the groundwater .

effect

The effect is similar to that of other amphetamines , but is much weaker. The stimulating effect is achieved through the increased release of neurotransmitters , and the breakdown of the transmitters is suppressed. This means that a larger amount of neurotransmitters is available for a limited period of time, but the nerve cell is overexcited and exhausted as a result. As a result of the increased distribution, a state of general well-being occurs, which is accompanied by a stimulated, happy attitude. The desire to communicate increases, tiredness disappears and the feeling of hunger is suppressed. This also explains the group formation described below and common consumption. This condition decreases after about two hours. The intoxication ends in a rather depressive mood.

Larger amounts lead to tiredness and drowsiness or even poisoning, which can trigger stomach cramps , vomiting and even collapse . The taste of the leaves is mostly bitter. Tobacco consumption increases the effect of catholic consumption. Long-term consumption often leads to sleep disorders , impotence and antisocial behavior. Long-term consumption of Kath seems to be associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease and carcinoma of the oral mucosa. During pregnancy, Kath can lead to a reduced oxygen supply to the fetus and thus to an increased risk of premature birth . In animal experiments with rats, it triggered aggressive behavior, but it tends to make humans less motivated.

Kath does not usually cause any physical dependencies , but psychological ones are well known. This is another reason why the cathinone contained in the Kath is subject to the Narcotics Act in Germany , which regulates the possession and trade of Kath. Kath is legal in Great Britain , but in July 2013 the British government announced, contrary to the recommendations of an expert commission it had convened, that it would ban Kath. This led to protests by East African farmers, whose economic livelihood depends on Kath production. On January 11, 2012, a ban on Kath was announced in the Netherlands . In Denmark , according to the police, Kath is said to have a value of 60 euros per kilogram on the black market .

Economic and health concerns

Kath plantation near Bahir Dar , Ethiopia

Consumption is widespread and accepted in the above countries. It can often be observed that public life comes to a standstill around noon and many people sit together in groups and discuss while chewing Kath. In Islamic law, Kath is viewed by the majority as forbidden ( haram ), for example in Saudi Arabia ; in the countries where enjoyment is widespread, it is justified by the prevailing doctrine.

In some Kath areas, such as northern Kenya, Kath chewing was originally a privilege of the gerontocratic class or the nobility. With the decline in traditional forms, consumption of Kath among younger people increased, which has negative effects on education and income development.

Daily consumption can become a financial burden for poor families. In December 2007, then-President Yemen Ali Abdullah Salih declared that he himself wanted to give up chewing Kath in order to set a good example for the people of his country. In Yemen, many citizens spend a large part of their wealth on their habit. 90 percent of the water consumption in Yemen can be traced back to agriculture and half of that from the cultivation of Kath; this increasingly exacerbates the problem of water scarcity in the country with little precipitation. The cultivation of Kath is also responsible for the fact that Yemen now has to import the majority of its food, since the cultivation of grain is not worthwhile for the farmers compared to Kath: The cultivation and sale of Kath brings at least ten times the yield of Cereal a.

A study from Qatar identified Kath consumption as a risk factor for stroke and coronary heart disease caused by cerebral haemorrhage. The patients also had a significantly more severe course of the disease.

Yemen has the highest rate of mouth , esophagus and tongue cancer in the world, largely due to the uncontrolled and improper use of pesticides by Kath farmers.

History of the Kath as an intoxicant

Already in the Middle Ages there were concerns about the use of the Kath shrub, mostly based on Islamic law, which led to temporary bans on consumption and cultivation. For example, the Yemeni ruler Imam Sharaf al-Din (1543–1544) forbade the consumption of Kath, as he placed the plant on a par with intoxicants prohibited by Muslims. Even during the colonial period, when the British, Italians and French were confronted with the consumption of Kath in today's states of Yemen, Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya, there were attempts with bans, market controls and draconian punitive campaigns (including shootings) Curb consumption of the leaves. A British appeal to the League of Nations in 1936 to ban the drug was just as unsuccessful as a one-year ban on the import, trade and consumption of Kath (1957/58) in the British crown colony of Aden. The French made one last attempt at control in what is now Djibouti in 1970. According to a law, Kath users should be subject to compulsory withdrawal cures. However, the law could never be implemented due to the flagrant lack of medical facilities in the East African territory. In the South Yemeni war of liberation against the British in the 1960s, the income from the Kath cultivation played an important role in financing the tribal uprisings. The British military therefore carried out extensive aerial bombardments against the Kath cultivation, for example in January 1962 in the mountainous region of Jafe.

Even today, governments and militias on both sides of the Red Sea try to use campaigns and laws to push back the trade and consumption of Kath or to regulate it in order to make a profit. In Saudi Arabia, for example, a religious fatwa from 1956, issued by the then Grand Mufti 'Abd al-Latif Al-Shaykh, is still valid today, which puts Kath on the same level as drugs. A royal decree from 1957 punishes the consumption of Kath with 40 lashes with the stick. Saudi border troops repeatedly intercept large deliveries of smuggled Yemeni kaths on the rugged mountain border. Peer Gatter (2012) estimates the volume of Kath deliveries infiltrating into Saudi Arabia each year at over 30,000 tonnes, with a total value of around one billion US dollars. In Yemen around one million people benefit from the Kath smuggling to Saudi Arabia, above all the farmers and smugglers themselves, but also agricultural workers, water suppliers and workers in the packaging and transport sectors.

Recently, the Kath trade in Yemen was also regulated by the al-Qaida-affiliated Ansar al-Sharia militia. Between 2011 and 2012, the jihadists brought large parts of South Yemen under their control and had Kath trade banned in the cities they ruled and the Kath markets relocated to the area around the settlements. In southern Somalia, the Islamist al-Shabab militias have regulated the Kath trade through various decrees since 2010 and banned the sale of Kath by women. Kath is one of the main sources of income for the militias in Somalia and the US government suspects that Kath funds play an important role in financing Islamist terrorism in the Horn of Africa. The control of Somali airstrips, through which Kath deliveries from Kenya and Ethiopia infiltrate into Somalia, is considered to be central to maintaining the power of the respective warlords and thus also to the course of the clashes between rival groups. In Yemen, too, the Kath trade plays an important role in the civil war that has raged in the northern province of Sa'da since 2004 . The Zaydite insurgents have largely brought the Kath smuggling to Saudi Arabia under their control in recent years. Money from the Kath smuggling is contributing to the further destabilization of Yemen and to the political fragmentation of the country. The Yemeni army distributes Kath to its soldiers as a “motivator” in campaigns against the insurgents.

FAO program to reduce Kath cultivation

A few years ago the World Health Organization began to motivate Yemeni farmers to switch to growing vegetables . These efforts are hardly successful among the male rural population because there is an old tradition of consuming Kath together.

However, more and more women farmers dare to oppose the pressure of patriarchal society. As a pioneer of this growing change applies Ahlam al-Alaja in a mountain village in northern Yemen . It has shown that despite the high prices that Kath can achieve, there is hardly any loss of income; because the Kathstrauch needs several hours of artificial irrigation every day , whereby the groundwater has to be pumped up from ever deeper layers. It costs around $ 20 a day, which largely makes up for the lower selling price of vegetables.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Kathstrauch ( Catha edulis )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Qat  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stefan W. Toennes, S. Harder, M. Schramm, C. Niess, GF Kauert : Pharmacokinetics of cathinone, Cathine and norephedrine after the chewing of khat leaves. In: Br. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 56 (1), 2003, 125-130, PMC 1884326 (free full text).
  2. ^ Bert Marco Schuldes: Psychoactive plants. 13th edition, Nachtschatten Verlag, Solothurn 1994, ISBN 3-9258-1764-6 .
  3. ↑ Herbal stimulant khat to be banned. BBC News, July 3, 2013, accessed July 13, 2013 .
  4. ↑ Kenyan farmers: 'Khat is no drug'. BBC News, July 12, 2013, accessed July 13, 2013 .
  5. ^ The Netherlands to ban drug khat used by Somalis. BBC News, January 11, 2012, accessed November 1, 2012 .
  6. ↑ Largest khat seizure in Schleswig-Holstein: Search group seizes more than 1.4 tons of khat ( memento of December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
  7. ↑ Federal Agency for Civic Education: Fluter No. 37, Winter 2010, p. 38.
  8. ↑ WM Ali, KF Al Habib, A. Al-Motarreb, R. Singh, A. Hersi: Acute coronary syndrome and khat herbal amphetamine use: an observational report. In: Circulation. 124 (24), 2011, 2681-9, PMID 22155995 .
  9. ↑ Yemen's carcinogenic folk drug In: Spiegel Online. 22. July 2013.
  10. ^ Gatter, p. 624
  11. ↑ Gatter, pp. 85-91
  12. ↑ Gatter, p. 70
  13. ↑ Gatter, pp. 92-95
  14. ↑ Gatter, pp. 116-119
  15. ↑ gate, pp 484-490
  16. ^ Gatter, pp. 494-496
  17. ↑ Gatter, pp. 142-151, 491-494
  18. ↑ gate, pp 462-490
  19. ↑ Ahlam's dream. In: Wiener Zeitung. July 21, 2018, p. 8.