I was thinking this too 😆. If a friend told me that we were going to visit the khat house, I'd assume we were going to the Cat cafe and that my friend must have forgot the name so called it the cat house 😆😆 Your comment is underrated!
As a Kenyan citizen, who hails from the highlands from where Khat is the main cash crop, i am loving this break down immensely, its Friday, and in pure Khat mannerisms, in Nairobi, "naenda kuchukua surba, nichane hadi asubuhi", translated to, "I will be getting my potent share of fresh Khat leaves, and indulge with my mates till the wee hours of the morning".... thank you for this.
A few years ago I took a trip to Ethiopia. I flew into Dire Dawa and took a taxi to Harar with my guide. It was night time and most towns along the way were quiet. Then we got to one town where hordes of people were walking around wide-eyed, often carrying bricks of green leaves. My guide told me that the town was a hub for kat going to Somaliland. It was one of the creepiest places I’ve ever seen. Before we left Dire Dawa the guide told me not to put my luggage on the roof of the van because of a dangerous town we’d be passing through. A few days later I took the same route back to Dire Dawa, but in the daytime. Then that town looked like a ghost town.
I’m not 100% sure what you are trying to convey here but I’m going to venture a guess that you are agreeing with the idea that khat is a particularly harmful drug or at least is causing a lot of issues in Ethiopia. If that’s the case, I would point out that most of the unsavory things you explain here are a result of poverty, a lack of economic opportunities, poor supply chain infrastructure and a lack of government regulations/protections. Khat just happens to be the main export/economic vehicle in the area. Also the likely reason for people being wide awake in the middle of the night in the town that’s a hub is because most of the khat supply chain operates at night. As Simon mentioned, it’s a race against time to get the khat to its final destination once it’s picked. So it’s likely picked/harvested (not sure what the correct term would be lol) during the day then sold wholesale to suppliers and transported that night to get it to customers the next morning. I think this could be improved by better infrastructure but unfortunately that’s the least of Ethiopia’s problems at the moment.
I witnessed the social effects of khat first hand while in Aden, Yemen, and it was quite shocking. I visited the khat market and it was chaos, the busiest place in Aden, full of men buying and selling from the back of pick-up trucks. We were told if we needed any work doing on our boat, that we needed to get it done by midday. After that time, shops remained open but the owners were huddled behind the counter with their friends, grinning inanely with green teeth and huge, swollen cheeks full of masticated leaves. We couldn't get much sense out of them. The bizarrest sight was seeing large, iron four-poster beds rolled out into the streets with each one being occupied by groups of men doing nothing but chewing. And sadly, tucked up dark allies, out of sight from the adults, kids as young as ten were also chewing it. While the drug itself is not particularly harmful, the social effects were obvious, and the last statement in the video from the observer who commented about how it can tear families up is understandable. The video mentioned how farmers moved away from growing fruit, but it also affected the coffee market. Yemen was, once upon a time, a major coffee exporter (the city of Mocha is in Yemen), but it took a big hit when farmers moved away from coffee and into khat. This was all before the war in Yemen so I've no idea what it's like now, but khat didn't appear to be doing anyone any favours there . It is truly an opiate for the people.
@@mishaa7263 I've been following the Fentanyl problem in the US and it's bad. However it's not on the same scale as Yemen. When your entire farming industry turns from fruit and coffee to khat, then you know you have a nationwide problem.
Sounds like they need regulation, not a ban. Prohibit consumption on the job, instate a minimum age for sale and consumption, issue licenses for the growing of it so only a certain percent of the country's arable land can be used for it.
Khat is huge on the Horn of Africa. In Djibouti it’s actually pushed to keep the citizens high so they don’t organize. There was a huge problem when the supply chain broke down a few years ago and people started rioting.
In 2015, I got sent to Djibouti City, Djibouti in Africa for work. When we arrived we were given a briefing about Khat. It was the first time me or any of the people I was with had ever heard of it. But, it was insane because we were given all these warnings about how about it is and dont try it if the locals offer. Then out in the city you would see big signs advertising for Khat, it just seemed odd that something we were told is illegal for us was so readily available for the local population.
I also was confused during my time there, but soon as the President of Djibouti made himself President for life, it all made sense. The drug is a hunger a suppresant and makes you calm.
That’s very strange but also not surprising. People in those parts behave very strangely when it comes to foreigners. I say this as someone from “those parts” (East Africa). It kinda feels like a very paternalistic way of trying to protect (certain kind of) foreigners with an end goal of making sure the foreigners have a positive view of the local area. Idk if that made any sense…it’s a weird cultural thing I’ve noticed that I have a hard time wrapping my head around
@@myhi892I agree with the guy in the video, it's like a strong cup of green tea Maybe I stopped chewing to early but I got really tired from the taste and it was starting to get a really gross texture lol
Banning leads to bootlegging. Bootlegging leads to gangsters. And through it all, people do, what people do. 1st rule of leadership: Never give an order you can't enforce. And that applies to laws.
I chewed and traded it for years in Africa. I lived in Meru district Kenya where it is known as miraa. Here the red bark of the stems is chewed, not the leaves. I found this superior than khat (the leaves) from Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen. It was very difficult to det drunk while chewing, had an effect similar to viagra, gave me energy, kept me awake. The worst side effect was the next morning it felt like I had been chewing razor blades, tongue and cheek used to hurt. It cost 20 Kenya shillings per bundle (20 pence UK) and that was enough for an evening, I never had more than 2 bundles in a 24 hr period. It is mild, you have to work at chewing it to feel an effect. For me it was non addictive and I don't miss it.
@@sbtig9637 it wasn't a trip as such, in that there was no 'buzz' or high; it was more one noticed the effects, similar to drinking a couple of pints of strong coffee I guess. I haven't taken any amphetamines, ecstasy or cocaine so I can't compare.
The conversion rate is not 1/1 on Kenyan shillings to Uk pence. Also the stem doesn’t give any high as proven by research. Stop with the cap and clout chasing
@@aonstability5428 The conversion rate is correct for the time. Please give details of this research so I can discredit it. And what is cap, do you mean crap? Because you're full of it.
As an American who had never heard of khat before, at first the description made it sound attractive, like a caffeine buzz but somewhat more intense. But it's clearly at least somewhat addictive if so many people are leaving work in the early afternoon, neglecting family and spending more than they can afford on it. Considering that and the liver damage, and that you have to get it fresh and chew for hours to get the buzz, I think I'll stick to coffee.
If the one chemical that’s like an amphetamine but less so could be extracted without the uptake inhibitor, that could be really interesting for a lighter ADHD med
@bantuvoicemuchaik.k.7715 Simon talked about a lot of guys leaving work in the early afternoon to spend the rest of the day chewing khat. @@mgstickman1754 Large numbers of people don't clock out right after lunch to go to a coffee shop and sip away with friends until night while neglecting family.
I've lived in Israel for most of my life - khat is markedly popular here, known by the local pronunciation as 'Gat'. This is actualy what's gotten me so curious about this one. Those who introduced it here and remain the primary consumers are the Yemenite Jewish community. Everyone, including said Yemenite Jews, is fairly open about it and its use, and afaik it's still legal, or used to be for a long time. A kiosque near my place actually sells and advertises it. And not to say that they necessarily don't exist, but - as far as I've heard at least, while there are some negative stereotypes regarding its use, it hasn't caused anywhere near the harrowing moral/social effects described in this video. I guess I'll do more research across local Israeli media on the subject, to learn more about the actual situation here. Great job Simon! As (well, almost) always, I loved the content and topic selection
Why limit yourself to only Israeli media, when the substance is being used and originates elsewhere? There are people in the comments on this video detailing personal accounts of the drug. Do you somehow think that the media is more informed or honest than those who have actually witnessed it?
The accounts sounded similar to accounts of alcohol usage pre-prohibition tbh. From the high use in the areas it is popular, the effects it has on families (going out at night to consume it with friends and wasting your money on it), and even its impact on the economy. So I would say it is likely akin to alcohol in terms of "druginess".
@@SkunkApe407 I think his point is that hes never heard any negative sotires about the use of khat in isreal, so he wants to see if there are any. He watched the video and heard the stories about its use elsewhere, so he wants to see if the same thing is going on in his home country.
My father is from Yemen and he took me there when I was a kid. I still remember all the people chewing Khat EVERYWHERE you went. I remember the wide eyed and talkative people sitting in one spot for 12 hours at a time. The huge bulge on one side of the cheek where they store the chewed leaves. He took me to a flea market made up of hundreds of Khat vendors. It was insane to see how popular and sought out the drug was. This video really nailed it with every talking point and brought back alot of memories. PS I was 10 years old and the older men convinced me to try it. It tastes horrible I spit it out instantly. If the Yemenese people spent half the time being productive citizens instead of chewing Yemen would be a completely different country then it is now.
Seems to me there are not many options. The land doesn't grow much, so no crops or feed for livestock. Kinda like the reservation for native america. It's kinda just a port city
depends what you aim for in soceity and life. People are content to Chew, let them Chew. No is is content in the race for materialism. Monetary slavery via the debt system and an ever inflating currency etc. Society as it stands is disgusting.
There’s no way Khat would do more financial damage to families than lottery tickets. I frequently see working class people dropping $100+ dollars on scratchers. At least khat would give them a high.
But in reality it’s a tax on the unempowered and disenfranchised who feel it’s the only likely way to overcome their circumstances. Which direct work of course. Even for the free who win
Among all the warnings against taking this stuff, for some reason the Halitosis is the biggest one for me. Not sure what that says about my priorities, but I've met my fair share of people who have horrible breath, and I never want to be unable to have a conversation with someone face to face without making their stomach turn. Its just one of those things that I try to be hyper aware of.
I'm convinced that what most people need (besides hydrating, avoiding nasty stuff like tobacco, and brushing teeth) is to use a tongue scraper daily. Most of the stank in your mouth comes from the gunk on your tongue. P.S. Once clean, use coconut oil as a mouthwash for the final step! 👌
As a person who's been doing harm reduction work, as a highly interested peer no less, for about a half a decade, and who's also knee-deep in the related phamacology from my teen years... You're spot-on. I rarely see anyone, including the doctors and researchers, covering the subject quite this well. Pretty much the only thing even half-missing are the synthetic cathinones or pyrovalerone derivatives, starting with MDPV and currently especially alpha-PVP (yes, bath-salts are mentioned), and their intimate connection to amphetamines, including meth . Because the synthetics of this ilk are actually even worse than meth; much more potent per milligram, and per equal dose much more prone to causing hallucinations, paranoia, heart trouble and all that. Probably because they hit norepinephrine reuptake so much harder.
Can confirm from experience with synthetic cathinones like N Ethyl Pentedrone and 3 Methyl Methcathinone, they are extremely euphoric and dangerously addictive, even more so than amphetamine (can't speak on meth), and probably dont need to exist. That doesn't mean the parent plant should be illegal though, as that would only promote new and more dangerous derivatives to be developed
Stop lying so much. I am from there and many people sit around all day eating khat with tea, I’ve never seen or heard of an overdose or anything close to what ur saying. It’s literally just leaves that give same buzz as a cigarette. It’s not even that addictive. It’s just sold in poverty areas so no jobs poor men sit around eating it all day.
@@speedoflight589 Read the comment. OP is specifically about synthetic cathinones. You comparing it to cigarettes perfectly highlights just how addictive it actually is. Because it doesn't give a major high, the barrier to entrance is low and it's socially accepted. A heavy smoker isn't able to just stop smoking. Neither is a Kath user just able to stop using it. Add to that the social aspects and habits that form around taking it, and you have a very addictive substance.
The only reason weed has such a bad reputation is because of the manufactured link between weed and cocaine created by Ronald Reagan to get rid of the detractors of the Vietnam War who were mostly Hispanics and Blacks, so Reagan planted cocaine in the black communities made a whole deal about them being junkies and then basically said that all of them started by smoking weed. This is real, many government officials have confirmed it, if I recall correctly even the head of national security confirmed that it was true saying "we made them the enemy, we needed to make them the enemy, and we got away with it"
He almost alluded to it in the video: productivity. Can’t have a bunch of workers not working! Bad for the economy if the slaves are off having fun! I do find it strange though that the west won’t just legalise and make money off the multibillion drug industry.. I mean we’re getting there but painfully slowly
So the last statement was a “some people can’t handle the substance. So no one can use it.” But we’re fine with alcohol causing domestic abuse and divorce. Worry about yourself, Don’t have the ARROGANCE to believe that you know what is best for others. People who do that disgust me.
Alcohol is as bad as any drug. But senators and congress men like to drink. So it’s not going anywhere. Khat is addictive. I’m glad it’s illegal. IMO 😮
@@sirvilhelmofyonderland Khat is addictive. Caffeine is addictive. Nicotine is addictive. Alcohol is addictive. Hydrocodone is addictive. ___________ is addictive.
Just wanted to say that after Casual Criminalist, Into the Shadows is my favorite show, Simon! Feel free to make hour long episodes, im totally down for watching them. (BTW, the new introduction is slick). As always, thanks for the content!
I love CasCrim the most too, but BrainBlaze and Into the Shadows are excellent offerings from Simon and his team. I am always learning something new from Into the Shadows and enve Brain Blaze, because I basically live under a rock. I also love Warographics, but that channel's content is incredibly intense, and can stifle the spirit sometimes. I still watch, I appreciate the education on past and current conflicts greatly. I know more about the conflict in Ukraine than any of my friends now, for instance.
@@FoxWolfWorld Yet here you are, commenting... This means you're watching anyway, or you're a Troll. I do hope you're the former. I'd also like to know which episodes you are thinking of, from what channel. If you are thinking of say TopTenz, Simon's team was not much involved with that channel's content, and Simon has parted ways with that production anyway. Maybe you're annoyed at Today I Found Out?
I was working in a country called Djibouti which is next to somalia and ethiopa and i personally chewed with random locals on many occasions whilst drinking afterwork n weekend ect, definitely a 2 months i will never forget ,such hood hearted people in Djibouti 🇩🇯🇩🇯🇩🇯 from , Birmingham Uk🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
It could be argued that the drug can amplify pre-existing issues, however the same thing can be said about alcohol. So I guess a solution to the problem might be more complex than to just simply ban the drug outright.
I as a kenyan have not witnessed this sosial ills brought by khat (miraa) all i see is a group of people indulging in friendly conversation as they chew their leaves one at a time. It brings people together n has less side effects than alcohol or cigarettes
Two countries tried paying their citizens to kill off a species that was invasive, one succeeded, the other one had people breeding them so they could sell the bodies to the government. Maybe it works differently depending on circumstances? If what you are saying is true we may need to legalize a lot of drugs that have been made illegal.
Khat is sooo normal here in Kenya 🇰🇪🇰🇪 like LITERALLY i can go down my apartment block and get a bag for 25 cents in USD.. *i dont take it because its a disgusting habit* you can chew khat with groundnuts or chewing gum
Constant complaint from SOF teams about working with Sub-Saharan militias is that they start chewing Khat around noon and are useless until the next morning. Idk if it's because they chew so much of it or if they have a different, stronger strain.
Well, if you chew for long hours, you overwork your body and you're exhausted the next morning. Most people where I'm from use it to stay alert and work long shifts. I'd use it to work online for 18 hours. Then immediately I woke up, I'd start chewing again to get rid of the exhaustion. It's definitely not healthy, but it's nothing like all those other drugs it's been classified with.
Traveling from the airport in Yemen, my business partner saw that the cabbie was chewing on this stuff. He got mad and complained that he didn't want a stoned driver. The cabbie got pissed off. So much so that after a few minutes, he stopped the cab, took our luggage out of his trunk (Simon: that's a boot lol), and left us on the side of the highway... two white guys in business suits, in Yemen. We soon got picked up by another cabbie, with khat. I stared my business partner down. After a 20 hour flight, this is the last thing I needed.
Not to mention that if Khat was the Big Bad Drug your partner assumed, the pi55ed - off 'junkie' driver wouldn't have troubled too much about giving you your luggage back!
Seems like you friend had forgot y'all weren't in Kansas anymore..I woulda let him to not speak to the ppl anywhere else like that around me after that. Sheesh. Let alone travel anywhere foreign with him again. 🤦
It used to be freely available in certain ethnic shops in Liverpool in the early 90s. I tried it once but wasn't the least bit impressed. It was like chewing dried privet. Some drank neat whisky with it to mask the bitter taste.
You should take it with some chewing gum or peanuts... anyways nowadays there's a juice extracted from the leaves. It's more powerful. But can be taken with a soda or juice and thus palatability won't be an issue. I'm Kenyan btw. It's popular here
You have to take chewing Gum, or Sugar sweets with it I was a User for like Three years in Kenya... It has an amazing High, you feel more awake and sensitive It's a nice experience but will definitely dump the drug after (Or at least not decide to take it for a while) It's not a Bad drug as they make it look Like
Drug abuse, domestic violence, and broken homes are the results of poverty, anxiety, and depression (the latter two often the results of poverty themselves, or at least of financial insecurity and poor quality of life)...not drugs. If prohibition could stop drug addiction, it surely would have by now. With no other options available, sufficiently distressed individuals will huff paint fumes to escape their misery. It's the human condition we should be addressing, not the palliative solutions people inevitably conceieve to cope with it.
You mean a city where homelessness is a major problem? How does that contraindicate anything I just said? Homeless people often turn to drugs to numb the pain of a bleak existence.@@triawillow1972
So then how do explain financially independent, single, well-adjusted people who get addicted to illicit substances? You do understand I hope that many people begin using drugs purely out of social curiosity, or because they’re just bored. Not all drug use is born out of “poverty, anxiety and depression.” In the era of American prohibition against alcohol, many drank simply as a form of social lubricant, and as a way to appear more cosmopolitan to the opposite gender. Some even began drinking as a way to protest government interference, and to mock religious ideologies. Humans, as a species, will always seek out experiences and substances that alter their day-to-day reality, for no other reason than because they want to.
Chemical addiction to certain drugs is arguably not a choice of the user, since the habit arguably becomes an almost uncontrollable instinct, removing the informed consent of the drug user. If drug use was always a conscious and informed choice (as libertarians often tend to argue when advocating liberalization) then rehab centers would either A) not be needed or B) have a much higher success rate
Keep that western mindset to yourself. You do not have a right to hurt yourself. A society of unhealthy people is an unhealthy society. We want our societies healthy. We believe in harm reduction not just for others but also for the self.
@valenciasaintilus9573 where did I say I anything about harm reduction? I'm speaking about bodily autonomy, smart guy. You can still practice harm reduction with freedom! I'm a proud and free Westerner enjoying my life the way I want to do it.
Good info! Always something new and interesting to learn on your channel. The US has no idea how to stop drug abuse so far. People always find a way to obtain what they want, or need.
In 2007 at JFK airport I became aware of a high priority smuggling interdiction by NYPD , Customs & DEA that is ongoing to today, I think, they were concerned at users dangerous behavior under the influence of Khat and it being mixed with something else, they mentioned but weren't specific but were highly concerned about it enough to target it with priority, it was entering in large volumes it seemed
@@Tony.kayAmiri that's not Khat bro. Khat actually makes you more alert. I'd use it in kenya to work online for 18 hours. The kind of users you're talking about are in the middle east. They're not sloths because of khat. We can say the same thing about hookah... They're just generally lazy.
I was deployed on a gaurd rotation at a Joint Navy port in Djibouti. Our port had a lot of staffing by locals from the nearby town. We could not allow them access on base if they were under the effects of Khat or had khat leaves in thier possession. If they were found to be consuming khat anywhere on base, thier access was revoked and they were fired. Such a disgusting drug... teeth rotting qnd falling out, drooling and stumbling like a zombie...
I've always been fascinated by the hypocrisy around this drug. "Drinking beer is the worst crime" and "There is nothing wrong enjoying a little meth leaves for 6 hours" seems like a conflicting lifestyle.
Drugs are drugs. It doesn't really make sense to put them into different brackets. Yeah, sure, fentanyl is way worse than a joint, but in the end drug users are all doing the same thing. It doesn't matter if it's a joint, a beer, khat, heroin, fentanyl, etc.
@@CRneu today drugs are used for escaping reality and recreation enhancements, rather than for spiritual development . Love is the best drug ever and much more addictive than any substance.
Plenty use in the African comminties in the UK. You can buy it from corner shops in the right places. Ive seen 5 police trying to restrain one guy on this and having a very difficult time. As a medic i dealt with a guy with his scalp taken off with a machete while on it. He didnt even notice the injury.
I will have to hear about this. In Djibouti, they let everyone chew it to suppress hunger and calm the people down. Easier than spending money on what their people actually need.
As an American the only reason I know about Khat is Far Cry 2, where it's mentioned in a single side mission. Considering how ineffectual the drug war has been when it comes to weed or meth, I doubt trying to ban Khat would work much better if demand grows here.
This makes me want to hear your take on the tea-smuggling gangs of 18th century Britain. While tea wasn't illegal, it was taxed out of the reach of all but the elite--at least the legal stuff. The smugglers seemed capable of all of the theft, murder, torture and other evils of the drug trade today--showing that it's prohibition, not legalization, that cause the societal problems around a drug. Granted, there is domestic abuse wherever people spend more money on their addiction than their families. But how much of that comes from social norms in how a drug is used? Carrie Nation went on a rampage because of the immense suffering caused by it being an acceptable norm for men to go straight from work to the pub and not come out till they had spent the family's grocery money--children were literally starving to death because their alcoholic fathers drank their suppr-money. Yet while we still have some alcoholics, it's no longer normalized. Nor do people today cut their workdays in half to spend hours in coffeeshops and tea-shops--although they used to. Plainly societies can shift towards moderation and functionality. Besides, it's impossible to protect unhappy people from becoming addicted to something. We can't close down all the restaurants and ration food just because of an epidemic of overeating. We don't regulate shopping when there are people suffering from shopping addiction. And then there's the case of Nunuvit, one of the most remote communities in the world, where they have banned alcohol and where it's too much trouble for too little profit for drug dealers to go there. Unhappy people still get addicted to huffing gasoline. Maybe we should explore instead how we've created a society that so many find literally unbearable? Maybe we should do something about that. But do please do an "Into the Shadows" on the Cuppa Gangs!
When a remote place like nunavut, where "society" with its cities, hordes of zombified people and concrete boxes is a far sight, has people getting high on gasoline... I think the problem is not society. Animals in general like to get high. It's been proven with lab research on mice, you've seen it in nature, from elefants eating fermented fruit to get drunk to reindeer eating magic mushrooms... It's not "society"... it's in our nature. What separates us from animals is the fact we have a supersized prefrontal cortex, which boost learning from past experience to predict the better outcome and planning ahead. The problem is that some people completely ignore this... It's called being irresponsible. No alcoholic starts out his addiction without a unhealthy dose of irresponsability to begin with. Same for a crack head, or a cocaine addict. I agree the harshness of society can definitively lead to people trying to find an escape. But that's what every drug addict will tell you to try to take the responsibility off his shoulders. People have to stop blaming "society" for everything that happens to them. It's your choice, always.
This. So much this. I'm always weary of bans on anything because it's not gonna solve anything. The issue is societal and acceptance of doing drugs and alcohol for "entertainment." (The past was literally the worst so often times the alcohol was safer to drink because it was more treated than whatever water there was which resulted in far less deaths.) Let's make people want to live. Good work-life ratio. Good wages. A good view about living, instead of saying life should be torture.
if your "prohibition causes crime" logic held any water, we'd see skyrocketing homicide rates. Prohibition works. Tea has caffeine, which is a drug. Lack of caffeine in an addiction causes withdrawal headaches and irritability. Drugs, not prohibition, cause crime rates to rise. Or are you suggesting that crack, heroin, and meth be legal?
@@SkunkApe407 You make a good point. The cases are almost parallel. But there's a difference between banning a thing and banning an act. Things don't commit crimes--it's what we do with the things that does harm. Still, solving the source of problems is better than punishing them after the fact, if you can do it. One of the reasons I said what I did was based on Medellin, which used to be the murder capital of the world, due to drug gangs. Murders were illegal there, of course, but it didn't slow down the problem, which was caused by drug gang violence. What did slow it down was making drug addiction a medical rather than a legal problem. Addicts could get a drug by prescription legally and cheaply, ending their criminal activities and stabilizing their lives enough for them to get into rehabilitation--after all, they were getting their drugs from those wanting to see them get well, instead of those wanting them to get more people hooked on drugs. The drug cartels had no more financial incentive to stay and left for greener pastures. So, in a sense, eliminating the reason that the murders were taking place was more effective than illegalizing murder.
@@SkunkApe407 I should also address why this didn't work with prescription drug abuse. It wasn't actually tried. There was no middle-ground. Once a doctor realized that his patient had become addicted, by law he had to cut him off completely, often in rural areas that lacked medical support for withdrawal. So instead of ceasing to be an addict, the patient became a criminal addict, robbing people and committing other crimes to get the drugs much more expensively on the streets, from people encouraging them to get still more addicted and to addict others. I am not a fan of mind-altering drugs. I spent my youth terrorized by druggies in the family. But I also saw--against what I wanted to see--how legalizing marijuana in various states reduced deaths from overdoses (people were no longer getting their weed from pushers eager to hook them on the harder stuff, plus doctors could prescribe marijuana instead of harder drugs for pain) and new dependencies dropped because of the lack of minors smoking pot. A pusher will start customers on drugs as young as possible to get the most mileage out of them, but a legitimate business-owner doesn't want to lose his license by selling to minors.
Khat has been around since the early 2000s in south africa. It's not a new drug. It's just social media catching up now. I would rather worry about the more serious drugs like tranq and opioids your friendly family doctor prescribed for you 👌
South Africa has long planted Catha edulis in afforestation schemes. Which makes sense, because it is quite adapted to the local conditions and it yields engineering-quality wood relatively quickly.
Black Hawk Down. All the locals were so dedicated in their attacks, suffering over 1,000 casualties vs the U.S.’s 30 because they were all hopped up on khat.
I have a San Pedro cactus. It is NOT easy to prepare it in a way that doesn't make you excruciatingly sick. Lots of people know about it, and only a few want to try it. Of the few that try it, almost no one tries it again
Wait. That cannot be right. 500 liters of water per day, per chewer, to support the growth of the product. That is 132 gallons! Most people do not use that much water all day, to include for showering.
I used to live in Kenya and had seen Khat for sale (and used ) in the streets. I now live back in my native New Zealand and imagine my surprise when I found out it now grows wild in some places here, after it somehow managed to gain purchase in the soil. The stuff is a weed
Ive had some khat with kenyans when it was legal in the uk, i felt great. The only dangerous thing is the banning of natural occuring plants that we, as humans, have every right to choose to consume or not.
Let me correct Simon: “Bath salts” are intensely euphoric stimulants which provide hours of pleasurable energy, yet calm focus and heightened empathy. Sound good now?
If you only list _possible_ negative side effects (usually from overuse), and none of the pleasurable main effects, it’s going to sound bad, but believe me, cathinones are wonderful.
Had pure 4MMC many times and Ive never experienced one stated effect. Maybe if you combine with alcohol and you use it for several days (festival combo), you wont feel exactly wonderful the next few days :) But thats reasonable (and you should avoid it to minimize harm)
I'll never get how government thinks banning something will solve the entire problem. Most of the time without thinking a step further like your comment about the pubs.
It was crazy seeing everyone in Yemen chewing it in the afternoon everyday when I was there in 2013. It would be the size of a baseball in the side of their mouth.
Nanny state playing parent for full grown adults they claim are "free" to choose for themselves. It's so obnoxious for the government to assume they're your mommy or daddy telling you what you can and can't do with your own dang body.
There was a 7-11 in San Benito county California that had khat growing behind the store so it can be grown in the US. They eventually stopped them from growing it but I could imagine Santa Cruz county to be a place easy to grow it secretly.
When I was going through an experimental phase about 15yrs ago I wanted to try Khat.. But nobody knew what I was talking about. Never got hold of any due to nobody even knowing what it was. Ended up playing around with some A-Class substances for 6months instead, then dropped it all.. I don't even drink anymore now. Not worth the next couple days not feeling 100%.
I'm originally from a township in south Africa. In the last decade or so, people have been using household products to create Khat powder from the leaves which is highly potent and has effects similar to methamphetamine. It's bad, I've already lost a friend to the drug and I might lose more. It's highly addictive and is actually one of the things behind Amapiano lifestyle. The world really doesn't know how crazy it is there
Approximately 6 tons of khat arrives in the UK per week, mostly by air from Kenya. The bulk of this is in transit for supply to the United States of America. The UK is a base for khat distribution to many countries, including the US, where the plant is illegal. Khat is used in bundles of approximately 250g of fresh stems and leaves; each bundle costs £3-5 (approximately £15/kg). In the United States of America, where khat is illegal, the street price is approximately $400/kg. that what the government report say plus much more. seen a documentary recently regarding this from the farms and getting it to the city or airport, miraa and driving at high speed has become iconic in the Kenyan miraa trade and is an image used even in Kenyan cartoons. now they say they drive slower still at speed 80-100mph but they said when they imported to UK they drive as fast as possible much faster than they do now what shown on documentary what was dam fast , tend to use Toyota pickups on documentary basically a race between drivers, easy to find it Dangerous Roads, The Flying Trucks of Kenya on tube it a good watch and driver goes into bit how the bans effected drivers and farmers.
Thanks. I was surprised when trekking in Peru that "Bed tea" , served to you first thing when you wake up in your tent was Coca tea, and the leaves were offered around for free to chew. I got to like the Coca tea but not sure I ever got any sort of high. We were warned to be careful because back in the UK many employers have mandatory drug testing and this could show up as a positive for a while.
Slightly odd question, but if it's chewed why does it affect productivity? Isn't that specifically the sort of activity you can do whilst working (or anything else for that matter)? Heck shouldn't a drug which increases energy improve productivity if anything?
It only increases productivity on a short term, once addiction reaches a more advanced state the users tend to skip work and other responsabilities,some even resort to crime and such
As a user I work while on it, where it is legal, long distance bus and truck drivers can't miss it because it enhances alertness while combating fatigue( basically any type of work).
Whenever there's a difference between the natural version of a drug and the artificial variety, I always wonder if it's a chirality issue. That is, a lot of organic molecules are "right handed" or "left handed," the same molecule but one is a mirror image of the other. When nature settles on one or the other, it always makes the one it settled on. Artificial synthesis of the molecule often isn't as selective, though, and will produce both right and left handed versions. Which wouldn't be a problem except that in some molecules, the chirality or handedness of the molecule is important. One can be perfectly safe, and the other can be highly dangerous.
I remember buying this stuff from a head shop in Portsmouth in the early nineties. Very subtle but creeps up on you. We even brewed it up with magic mushrooms, bit like taking a mild E
I used to really like the cathinone 3mmc when it was still legal in the Netherlands, a derivative of 4mmc, which is essentially synthetic khat with some other chemicals in it. I always really enjoyed the euphoriaboost from it, it would last pretty long too, not as intense as mdma but definitely very pleasurable at least in my experience, especially socially. Would describe it as a mix between a light MDMA euphoria with the alertness and stimulation of cocaine. Never took it more than one evening every two weeks or so, but I did know people who got addicted to it.
@@MFobesbelieve me, friend, do not fuck around with synthetic cathinones. The person who wrote the comment above was very lucky to not indulge more than a few times and therefore avoided destroying his life as he knew it. Read up about cathinones and believe the horror stories you will find. There is a before and an after synthetic cathinones and i promise you that you will regret for the rest of your life that your life before cathinones or khat for that matter is gone. Just don’t do it.
@@PP-pi7li I do believe you. I don’t dabble in that stuff these days but you have made me interested in researching some more. Your comment is appreciated.
@@PP-pi7li I see what you're saying, but everybody reacts differently. I also know many people for who stims is not a big problem and very occasional (excluding meth and crack, although even with those there are rare cases of using sporadically) I believe it is our right as grown people to put in our bodies what we want, the majority of people also won't down a bottle of wine in one go but will just have a glass, look at these compounds the same way and you shouldn't have any problems. Be very careful what you use and how you use it. Get your life in order first, allot of people who are confident and happy without drugs can hold back against addictive behaviour and just use it at a festival or party/gathering with friends. Once you know how the drug can be destructive and you really ask yourself: Do I want to do this all the time and end up addicted, or do I wanna have fun for once and live the rest of my life until another moment arises in the future. That's the way me and allot of my friends who can control it look at it. Theres tweakers, theres alcoholics, and theres responsible use. Anything can be abused, videogames, pornography, any other form of entertainment, marijuana you name it.
Poverty for itself is more than enough to disrupt familiar structure. People look for something to escape the world they live in, and people who think they know better treat them as criminals.
I had some Khat infused beer from Israel a couple years ago. It's a stimulant in small quantities and I would equate it to the Wormwood in Absinthe. It also makes colors brighter. When you move your hand, you see "trails".
One thing alot of people don't discuss with any stimulant is the increase in ego and confidence. With stronger stimulants that increase is to a delusional point. It is hilarious they said they could talk to any girl or win any argument but that Is the nature of what stimulants do at a certain point!
Ethiopians used to sell khat in Stockwell in the newsagents, in the bottom row of the drinks fridge. There used to be somalian cafes where there would be men just drinking coffee and chewing on khat. It took time for it to be banned.
I'm a little confused why you didn't touch on the fact that "Wellbutrin" (Bupropion) is also a synthetic cathinone. It's a weaker one but is in fact still a synthetic cathinone. There are even people up in Canada that have begun abusing it by IV injection and claim it has a simular feeling like base-cocaine (crack). However, the cuts or ingredients added to the pills don't sit well under the skin and when the users miss the vein it causes horrible abscesses. I would think that wouldn't be worth it given that the high it produces is so shitty buuuut I guess I'd be wrong. They're having similar issues in Philadelphia with the fentanyl supply being cut with Xylazine (an animal tranquilizer). Although much, much worse grizzly abscesses leading to a ton of amputations. I think you aughtta do a video on that! It's the worst thing I've ever seen. Anyways, just thought if your viewers found this video interesting then they'd REALLY find it interesting that such a mainstream medication like Wellbutrin is also a synthetic cathinone - like bath salts but much less potent...
Xylazine doesnt cause abscess. Its causes necrosis. Its a vasoconstrictor, shrinking blood vessels. Blood carries oxygen & remove waste. Without it the flesh dies. But these wounds can heal with proper cleaning and debriding, hard for ppl suffering houselessness to maintain. The first symptom is swollen ankles & feet. Take asprin, 81 to 250 mg 1-2x per day to thin the blood so it gets thru. Get it at $🌳. Get on methadone. Certain regions its hard to get. At the very least, switch to heroin if possible. Its not in the heroin supply or the fentanyl heroin dealers sell. Switch to pharmaceuticals if you got the $ for it. Seems intentional. Suppliers wont add cut that quickly kills or discourages use. Its only in very particular areas & the supply is tainted all at once?
About 30 years ago, I discovered Khat for sale by post in a magazine, so bought some. It's disgusting. Incredibly bitter, but you can boil the leaves up and it tastes a bit better, like the juice you get in a can of peas. It has a very subtle effect, but definitely does something, but you have to chew loads of it, or drink a lot of the tea.
As a big fan of synthetic cathinones and curious about this natural one, I was really disappointed to find that I couldn’t order any Khat online (not that I could find).
I'm from the UK and used to work in a homeless support charity and encountered this khat stuff before with Ethiopian asylum seekers who ended up homeless service users after being kicked out of hotels once their asylum claims were accepted. I also remember the M-kat epidemic back in the day that stuff was nasty AF sent many people down a dark path.
In the early 90s I went to see my friend from uni, and on one day we had khat tea, on another we roamed the streets of his town chewing on khat and amused ourselves chomping it in front of the police station. It was fun, like mild speed as the video says. The tea was pretty rank, and it was very astringent chewing it, like munching raw rhubarb (don't do that btw, it's poisonous as I found out). We got it wrapped in banana leaves and it was incredibly cheap compared to speed or other drugs we were in to (even cheaper than acid which was still 4 or 5 quid a tab at the time).
I am a Marine Corps combat veteran of the humanitarian aid timeframe to Somalia (Blackhawk Down era) the clan fighters used to live on Khat. I never knew the full details about it till just now. Thank you for such an informative video.
There's another type of khat known as 'muguka' or 'jaba' that's much cheaper and also gets you higher than giraffes nostrils in less than 10 minutes (5minutes if it's really good quality jaba) and yes, it's high lasts just as long as the more expensive khat. -Khat consuming Kenyan-
Here in South Africa you get a white powder called khat, its this plant but put through the same process as cocaine to get a snortable powder Many poor people who can’t afford cocaine use it
I had a similar experience when I had ketamine therapy. I went from just waiting to die and loving life in 24hrs. If your stuffing look into that too! Dr’s are prescribing it more and more thankfully.
If my friend said "we're going to a khat house" I'd be awfully disappointed when I got there and found a bunch of plants.
I was thinking this too 😆. If a friend told me that we were going to visit the khat house, I'd assume we were going to the Cat cafe and that my friend must have forgot the name so called it the cat house 😆😆
Your comment is underrated!
Lol
@@joannaedssay5988cat house means brothel
Lol 😂
@@joannaedssay5988bro. A cat house is a brothel.
As a Kenyan citizen, who hails from the highlands from where Khat is the main cash crop, i am loving this break down immensely, its Friday, and in pure Khat mannerisms, in Nairobi, "naenda kuchukua surba, nichane hadi asubuhi", translated to, "I will be getting my potent share of fresh Khat leaves, and indulge with my mates till the wee hours of the morning".... thank you for this.
haha... Kazoze
Miraa.
so is Mira and khat the same thing ?
@@chamowmeuh yes
Kaveve kazoze 🇰🇪🇰🇪🇰🇪🔥🔥
A few years ago I took a trip to Ethiopia. I flew into Dire Dawa and took a taxi to Harar with my guide. It was night time and most towns along the way were quiet. Then we got to one town where hordes of people were walking around wide-eyed, often carrying bricks of green leaves. My guide told me that the town was a hub for kat going to Somaliland. It was one of the creepiest places I’ve ever seen. Before we left Dire Dawa the guide told me not to put my luggage on the roof of the van because of a dangerous town we’d be passing through. A few days later I took the same route back to Dire Dawa, but in the daytime. Then that town looked like a ghost town.
I’m not 100% sure what you are trying to convey here but I’m going to venture a guess that you are agreeing with the idea that khat is a particularly harmful drug or at least is causing a lot of issues in Ethiopia. If that’s the case, I would point out that most of the unsavory things you explain here are a result of poverty, a lack of economic opportunities, poor supply chain infrastructure and a lack of government regulations/protections. Khat just happens to be the main export/economic vehicle in the area.
Also the likely reason for people being wide awake in the middle of the night in the town that’s a hub is because most of the khat supply chain operates at night. As Simon mentioned, it’s a race against time to get the khat to its final destination once it’s picked. So it’s likely picked/harvested (not sure what the correct term would be lol) during the day then sold wholesale to suppliers and transported that night to get it to customers the next morning. I think this could be improved by better infrastructure but unfortunately that’s the least of Ethiopia’s problems at the moment.
@@ayantuinthenow I'm not sure what you're trying to convey.
@@eoinokeeffe7014thank you
Completely irrelevant to the video, but did you interact with any of Harar's hyenas?
Alcohol had infected each location everywhere though so khat ain't shit
I witnessed the social effects of khat first hand while in Aden, Yemen, and it was quite shocking. I visited the khat market and it was chaos, the busiest place in Aden, full of men buying and selling from the back of pick-up trucks. We were told if we needed any work doing on our boat, that we needed to get it done by midday. After that time, shops remained open but the owners were huddled behind the counter with their friends, grinning inanely with green teeth and huge, swollen cheeks full of masticated leaves. We couldn't get much sense out of them. The bizarrest sight was seeing large, iron four-poster beds rolled out into the streets with each one being occupied by groups of men doing nothing but chewing. And sadly, tucked up dark allies, out of sight from the adults, kids as young as ten were also chewing it. While the drug itself is not particularly harmful, the social effects were obvious, and the last statement in the video from the observer who commented about how it can tear families up is understandable. The video mentioned how farmers moved away from growing fruit, but it also affected the coffee market. Yemen was, once upon a time, a major coffee exporter (the city of Mocha is in Yemen), but it took a big hit when farmers moved away from coffee and into khat. This was all before the war in Yemen so I've no idea what it's like now, but khat didn't appear to be doing anyone any favours there . It is truly an opiate for the people.
Different drugs for different classes of people 🌚🌝 💉 💎 🌱
@@mishaa7263 I've been following the Fentanyl problem in the US and it's bad. However it's not on the same scale as Yemen. When your entire farming industry turns from fruit and coffee to khat, then you know you have a nationwide problem.
Did Khat make them act Drunk? Or were they nodding out? How was it like dealing with khat addicts?
@@sayedalazam4228 neither of those really. I remember lots of grinning by shopkeepers, but in the streets on the beds they were all pretty chill.
Sounds like they need regulation, not a ban. Prohibit consumption on the job, instate a minimum age for sale and consumption, issue licenses for the growing of it so only a certain percent of the country's arable land can be used for it.
Khat is huge on the Horn of Africa. In Djibouti it’s actually pushed to keep the citizens high so they don’t organize. There was a huge problem when the supply chain broke down a few years ago and people started rioting.
Yup In Soviet Russia Stalin would keep the masses happy with cheap vodka.
just imagine the scenario here since we export it to Yemen Djibouti Ethiopia and many more
As a Kenyan who’s seen and still sees Khat used daily this is an amazing breakdown. Good work Simon❤
KAVEVE KAZOZE MZEE
Word..
story za jaba
Kazoze😹😹🥲
Bana niko jaba saa hii😅😅
In 2015, I got sent to Djibouti City, Djibouti in Africa for work. When we arrived we were given a briefing about Khat. It was the first time me or any of the people I was with had ever heard of it. But, it was insane because we were given all these warnings about how about it is and dont try it if the locals offer. Then out in the city you would see big signs advertising for Khat, it just seemed odd that something we were told is illegal for us was so readily available for the local population.
You could say those advertisements let the Khat out of the bag.
Ba dah bum😂
Man DJI had Khat stands set up like lemonade 😂. You're right, it was crazy!
I also was confused during my time there, but soon as the President of Djibouti made himself President for life, it all made sense. The drug is a hunger a suppresant and makes you calm.
That’s very strange but also not surprising. People in those parts behave very strangely when it comes to foreigners. I say this as someone from “those parts” (East Africa). It kinda feels like a very paternalistic way of trying to protect (certain kind of) foreigners with an end goal of making sure the foreigners have a positive view of the local area. Idk if that made any sense…it’s a weird cultural thing I’ve noticed that I have a hard time wrapping my head around
I've tried khat one time out of curiosity. It was a lot of work for the high, but I can easily understand that people get addicted to it.
How would you describe the feeling?
@@myhi892the feeling.. Is so good and long lasting than alcohol.. The downside of it is hangover..
@@myhi892I agree with the guy in the video, it's like a strong cup of green tea
Maybe I stopped chewing to early but I got really tired from the taste and it was starting to get a really gross texture lol
Then I wouldn’t touch it I’m a recovering alcoholic
Banning leads to bootlegging. Bootlegging leads to gangsters. And through it all, people do, what people do.
1st rule of leadership: Never give an order you can't enforce. And that applies to laws.
TRUTH..... Never give an order or make a law you can't enforce.
Yup. I think that the criminal element is the biggest danger presented by illegal drugs.
Be gangster
2nd rule: never invade russia during winter
I chewed and traded it for years in Africa. I lived in Meru district Kenya where it is known as miraa. Here the red bark of the stems is chewed, not the leaves. I found this superior than khat (the leaves) from Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen. It was very difficult to det drunk while chewing, had an effect similar to viagra, gave me energy, kept me awake. The worst side effect was the next morning it felt like I had been chewing razor blades, tongue and cheek used to hurt. It cost 20 Kenya shillings per bundle (20 pence UK) and that was enough for an evening, I never had more than 2 bundles in a 24 hr period. It is mild, you have to work at chewing it to feel an effect. For me it was non addictive and I don't miss it.
Can you please tell me how the trip felt?what was it like...i have never tried any drugs...except weed and when i was younger i did sniffed glue once.
@@sbtig9637 it wasn't a trip as such, in that there was no 'buzz' or high; it was more one noticed the effects, similar to drinking a couple of pints of strong coffee I guess. I haven't taken any amphetamines, ecstasy or cocaine so I can't compare.
The conversion rate is not 1/1 on Kenyan shillings to Uk pence. Also the stem doesn’t give any high as proven by research. Stop with the cap and clout chasing
@@aonstability5428 The exchange rate was £1 to Ksh100 at the time. You don't know what you are talking about so get out of my face. Fool.
@@aonstability5428 The conversion rate is correct for the time. Please give details of this research so I can discredit it. And what is cap, do you mean crap? Because you're full of it.
0:50 - Chapter 1 - Historic use
2:35 - Chapter 2 - The high
3:40 - Chapter 3 - In the brain
5:00 - Chapter 4 - Side effects
6:40 - Chapter 5 - Social impacts
8:30 - Chapter 6 - Drought, famine & child soldiers
9:55 - Chapter 7 - Regulation
11:15 - Chapter 8 - Moral panic
12:55 - Chapter 9 - Legalisation
Shill
@@UnknownUser-fe5zu😂ikr
As an American who had never heard of khat before, at first the description made it sound attractive, like a caffeine buzz but somewhat more intense. But it's clearly at least somewhat addictive if so many people are leaving work in the early afternoon, neglecting family and spending more than they can afford on it. Considering that and the liver damage, and that you have to get it fresh and chew for hours to get the buzz, I think I'll stick to coffee.
Nicotine also gives a buzz
If the one chemical that’s like an amphetamine but less so could be extracted without the uptake inhibitor, that could be really interesting for a lighter ADHD med
Would it be different if coffee was banned?
It's literary the opposite of alcohol... So you might work even more than usual...
@bantuvoicemuchaik.k.7715 Simon talked about a lot of guys leaving work in the early afternoon to spend the rest of the day chewing khat.
@@mgstickman1754 Large numbers of people don't clock out right after lunch to go to a coffee shop and sip away with friends until night while neglecting family.
I've lived in Israel for most of my life - khat is markedly popular here, known by the local pronunciation as 'Gat'. This is actualy what's gotten me so curious about this one. Those who introduced it here and remain the primary consumers are the Yemenite Jewish community. Everyone, including said Yemenite Jews, is fairly open about it and its use, and afaik it's still legal, or used to be for a long time. A kiosque near my place actually sells and advertises it. And not to say that they necessarily don't exist, but - as far as I've heard at least, while there are some negative stereotypes regarding its use, it hasn't caused anywhere near the harrowing moral/social effects described in this video. I guess I'll do more research across local Israeli media on the subject, to learn more about the actual situation here. Great job Simon! As (well, almost) always, I loved the content and topic selection
Why limit yourself to only Israeli media, when the substance is being used and originates elsewhere? There are people in the comments on this video detailing personal accounts of the drug. Do you somehow think that the media is more informed or honest than those who have actually witnessed it?
The accounts sounded similar to accounts of alcohol usage pre-prohibition tbh. From the high use in the areas it is popular, the effects it has on families (going out at night to consume it with friends and wasting your money on it), and even its impact on the economy. So I would say it is likely akin to alcohol in terms of "druginess".
I'd be interested in learning anything you learn about it's use from research!
@@SkunkApe407 I think his point is that hes never heard any negative sotires about the use of khat in isreal, so he wants to see if there are any. He watched the video and heard the stories about its use elsewhere, so he wants to see if the same thing is going on in his home country.
@@fritzstammen4535 that just tells me that the Israeli media is censoring reports.
My father is from Yemen and he took me there when I was a kid. I still remember all the people chewing Khat EVERYWHERE you went. I remember the wide eyed and talkative people sitting in one spot for 12 hours at a time. The huge bulge on one side of the cheek where they store the chewed leaves. He took me to a flea market made up of hundreds of Khat vendors. It was insane to see how popular and sought out the drug was. This video really nailed it with every talking point and brought back alot of memories. PS I was 10 years old and the older men convinced me to try it. It tastes horrible I spit it out instantly. If the Yemenese people spent half the time being productive citizens instead of chewing Yemen would be a completely different country then it is now.
Seems to me there are not many options. The land doesn't grow much, so no crops or feed for livestock. Kinda like the reservation for native america. It's kinda just a port city
@@carlamarlene2927The video literally stated farmers were growing khat instead of food, because of the profit.
depends what you aim for in soceity and life. People are content to Chew, let them Chew. No is is content in the race for materialism. Monetary slavery via the debt system and an ever inflating currency etc. Society as it stands is disgusting.
Always judge others harshly, who live their lives in ways you personally don't want to live. Freedom is for losers.
Might would help if the united states didn't bomb the sh*t out of them either. Educate yourself on the real monsters.
There’s no way Khat would do more financial damage to families than lottery tickets. I frequently see working class people dropping $100+ dollars on scratchers. At least khat would give them a high.
I think the best decription of lotto I've seen is "A voluntary tax on the poor and stupid."
A tax on being bad at math.@@Nerathul1
But in reality it’s a tax on the unempowered and disenfranchised who feel it’s the only likely way to overcome their circumstances. Which direct work of course. Even for the free who win
But lotto buyer get high too😅
I have a regular at my work who comes in at 5:30 am and buys lottery. She spent $400 on keno and bought $100 dollars of scratch tickets aswell
Among all the warnings against taking this stuff, for some reason the Halitosis is the biggest one for me. Not sure what that says about my priorities, but I've met my fair share of people who have horrible breath, and I never want to be unable to have a conversation with someone face to face without making their stomach turn. Its just one of those things that I try to be hyper aware of.
I'm convinced that what most people need (besides hydrating, avoiding nasty stuff like tobacco, and brushing teeth) is to use a tongue scraper daily. Most of the stank in your mouth comes from the gunk on your tongue.
P.S. Once clean, use coconut oil as a mouthwash for the final step! 👌
Bad breath and green teeth were the deal breaker for me to not use it.
I should think it's a deal breaker for women, that's for sure. It might do some men good to realise that smelling bad is a right turn-off.
As a person who's been doing harm reduction work, as a highly interested peer no less, for about a half a decade, and who's also knee-deep in the related phamacology from my teen years...
You're spot-on. I rarely see anyone, including the doctors and researchers, covering the subject quite this well. Pretty much the only thing even half-missing are the synthetic cathinones or pyrovalerone derivatives, starting with MDPV and currently especially alpha-PVP (yes, bath-salts are mentioned), and their intimate connection to amphetamines, including meth . Because the synthetics of this ilk are actually even worse than meth; much more potent per milligram, and per equal dose much more prone to causing hallucinations, paranoia, heart trouble and all that. Probably because they hit norepinephrine reuptake so much harder.
Don't chat shit. Meth and PV are basically equipotent. Yes you can smash more meth in a sesh than PV but at first dose 5mg is all you need of either.
Can confirm from experience with synthetic cathinones like N Ethyl Pentedrone and 3 Methyl Methcathinone, they are extremely euphoric and dangerously addictive, even more so than amphetamine (can't speak on meth), and probably dont need to exist. That doesn't mean the parent plant should be illegal though, as that would only promote new and more dangerous derivatives to be developed
The heart trouble would be linked to norepinephrine, but hallucinations and paranoia would be linked to sleep deprivation and dopamine.
Stop lying so much. I am from there and many people sit around all day eating khat with tea, I’ve never seen or heard of an overdose or anything close to what ur saying. It’s literally just leaves that give same buzz as a cigarette. It’s not even that addictive. It’s just sold in poverty areas so no jobs poor men sit around eating it all day.
@@speedoflight589 Read the comment. OP is specifically about synthetic cathinones.
You comparing it to cigarettes perfectly highlights just how addictive it actually is. Because it doesn't give a major high, the barrier to entrance is low and it's socially accepted. A heavy smoker isn't able to just stop smoking. Neither is a Kath user just able to stop using it. Add to that the social aspects and habits that form around taking it, and you have a very addictive substance.
Just want to point out that often the legal status of a drug has little to do with the harm it does. There are other big interests involved.
The only reason weed has such a bad reputation is because of the manufactured link between weed and cocaine created by Ronald Reagan to get rid of the detractors of the Vietnam War who were mostly Hispanics and Blacks, so Reagan planted cocaine in the black communities made a whole deal about them being junkies and then basically said that all of them started by smoking weed.
This is real, many government officials have confirmed it, if I recall correctly even the head of national security confirmed that it was true saying "we made them the enemy, we needed to make them the enemy, and we got away with it"
He almost alluded to it in the video: productivity. Can’t have a bunch of workers not working! Bad for the economy if the slaves are off having fun!
I do find it strange though that the west won’t just legalise and make money off the multibillion drug industry.. I mean we’re getting there but painfully slowly
Trueeee
Prohibition has worked out so well historically.
Exactly
Try being a chronic pain patient these days with the opiate epidemic going on.
@@JinksDeJenn Preaching to the choir. I have found other ways to manage but those who haven't are some of the few who have my truest sympathy.
@@ninjaswordtothehead Absolutely
@@JinksDeJenn i am and they dont care about me one bit
So the last statement was a “some people can’t handle the substance. So no one can use it.”
But we’re fine with alcohol causing domestic abuse and divorce.
Worry about yourself,
Don’t have the ARROGANCE to believe that you know what is best for others.
People who do that disgust me.
💯
Alcohol is as bad as any drug. But senators and congress men like to drink. So it’s not going anywhere. Khat is addictive. I’m glad it’s illegal. IMO 😮
ya man thats how they always been sadly
You would think the failed drug war would teach people a lesson, but no they are gonna double down and try and regulate the world.
@@sirvilhelmofyonderland Khat is addictive.
Caffeine is addictive.
Nicotine is addictive.
Alcohol is addictive.
Hydrocodone is addictive.
___________ is addictive.
Just wanted to say that after Casual Criminalist, Into the Shadows is my favorite show, Simon! Feel free to make hour long episodes, im totally down for watching them. (BTW, the new introduction is slick). As always, thanks for the content!
All his channels are the same. They just do whatever regardless of the channels “topic”
Have you found BrainBlaze yet? Like casual criminalist but more tangents and instead of true crime random topics. All 3 are in my favourite channels.
@@Iris_and_or_George I have but I don't watch consistently, just the odd topic here and there. Thanks for the suggestion though!
I love CasCrim the most too, but BrainBlaze and Into the Shadows are excellent offerings from Simon and his team. I am always learning something new from Into the Shadows and enve Brain Blaze, because I basically live under a rock. I also love Warographics, but that channel's content is incredibly intense, and can stifle the spirit sometimes. I still watch, I appreciate the education on past and current conflicts greatly. I know more about the conflict in Ukraine than any of my friends now, for instance.
@@FoxWolfWorld Yet here you are, commenting... This means you're watching anyway, or you're a Troll. I do hope you're the former. I'd also like to know which episodes you are thinking of, from what channel. If you are thinking of say TopTenz, Simon's team was not much involved with that channel's content, and Simon has parted ways with that production anyway. Maybe you're annoyed at Today I Found Out?
I was working in a country called Djibouti which is next to somalia and ethiopa and i personally chewed with random locals on many occasions whilst drinking afterwork n weekend ect, definitely a 2 months i will never forget ,such hood hearted people in Djibouti 🇩🇯🇩🇯🇩🇯 from , Birmingham Uk🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Those who’s family would be significantly affected by khat usage likely had problems before khat.
Yes. Drug use is a symptom not the disease itself
Agree
It could be argued that the drug can amplify pre-existing issues, however the same thing can be said about alcohol.
So I guess a solution to the problem might be more complex than to just simply ban the drug outright.
@@gamin9wizard945No shit, 99% of people using drugs do so to cover some form of mental problems. I smoke hash for the same reason.
I’m trying to think of of a single human family that does not have any problems… hum.. nope, I have never encountered such a thing.
Sooo….
I as a kenyan have not witnessed this sosial ills brought by khat (miraa) all i see is a group of people indulging in friendly conversation as they chew their leaves one at a time.
It brings people together n has less side effects than alcohol or cigarettes
Well Simon, I think it's a great idea to make khat illegal as it has been proved many times that prohibition works incredibly well.
you're being sarcastic right?
@@vilian9185 absolutely not, prohibition has 100% success rate we should reinstate alcohol prohibition
@@vilian9185 Nah...
And legalization has worked so well in Portland…
Two countries tried paying their citizens to kill off a species that was invasive, one succeeded, the other one had people breeding them so they could sell the bodies to the government.
Maybe it works differently depending on circumstances? If what you are saying is true we may need to legalize a lot of drugs that have been made illegal.
As a scrabble player, I use Qat once a day, and can confirm its potency, especially on a triple-letter score!
Based
Khat is sooo normal here in Kenya 🇰🇪🇰🇪 like LITERALLY i can go down my apartment block and get a bag for 25 cents in USD.. *i dont take it because its a disgusting habit* you can chew khat with groundnuts or chewing gum
Hhh. Wakenya haki
Tell them
Simon spoke about how much productivity is lost. Why don’t they chew while they work?
so .. like .. can I get some? it's uh ... for research
Lucky
Constant complaint from SOF teams about working with Sub-Saharan militias is that they start chewing Khat around noon and are useless until the next morning. Idk if it's because they chew so much of it or if they have a different, stronger strain.
Well, if you chew for long hours, you overwork your body and you're exhausted the next morning. Most people where I'm from use it to stay alert and work long shifts. I'd use it to work online for 18 hours. Then immediately I woke up, I'd start chewing again to get rid of the exhaustion.
It's definitely not healthy, but it's nothing like all those other drugs it's been classified with.
Traveling from the airport in Yemen, my business partner saw that the cabbie was chewing on this stuff. He got mad and complained that he didn't want a stoned driver. The cabbie got pissed off. So much so that after a few minutes, he stopped the cab, took our luggage out of his trunk (Simon: that's a boot lol), and left us on the side of the highway... two white guys in business suits, in Yemen. We soon got picked up by another cabbie, with khat. I stared my business partner down. After a 20 hour flight, this is the last thing I needed.
English people know what a trunk is, everyone outside America knows American terms because America inserts itself into everything
Not to mention that if Khat was the Big Bad Drug your partner assumed, the pi55ed - off 'junkie' driver wouldn't have troubled too much about giving you your luggage back!
Seems like you friend had forgot y'all weren't in Kansas anymore..I woulda let him to not speak to the ppl anywhere else like that around me after that. Sheesh. Let alone travel anywhere foreign with him again. 🤦
When in Rome...
It used to be freely available in certain ethnic shops in Liverpool in the early 90s. I tried it once but wasn't the least bit impressed. It was like chewing dried privet. Some drank neat whisky with it to mask the bitter taste.
At that point the high was coming from the whiskey and not the leaves
Like he said the leaves must be fresh to be effective
You should take it with some chewing gum or peanuts... anyways nowadays there's a juice extracted from the leaves. It's more powerful. But can be taken with a soda or juice and thus palatability won't be an issue. I'm Kenyan btw. It's popular here
You have to take chewing Gum, or Sugar sweets with it
I was a User for like Three years in Kenya... It has an amazing High, you feel more awake and sensitive
It's a nice experience but will definitely dump the drug after (Or at least not decide to take it for a while)
It's not a Bad drug as they make it look Like
@@korre3193 It's a pretty bad drug don't sugar coat it.
Drug abuse, domestic violence, and broken homes are the results of poverty, anxiety, and depression (the latter two often the results of poverty themselves, or at least of financial insecurity and poor quality of life)...not drugs. If prohibition could stop drug addiction, it surely would have by now. With no other options available, sufficiently distressed individuals will huff paint fumes to escape their misery. It's the human condition we should be addressing, not the palliative solutions people inevitably conceieve to cope with it.
Tell that to poor Portland 😢
You mean a city where homelessness is a major problem? How does that contraindicate anything I just said? Homeless people often turn to drugs to numb the pain of a bleak existence.@@triawillow1972
Drug addiction as a problem stands on its own.
@@Davefinney370 Yes and no , addiction is a disease of it's own but causal and after effects are common.
So then how do explain financially independent, single, well-adjusted people who get addicted to illicit substances? You do understand I hope that many people begin using drugs purely out of social curiosity, or because they’re just bored. Not all drug use is born out of “poverty, anxiety and depression.” In the era of American prohibition against alcohol, many drank simply as a form of social lubricant, and as a way to appear more cosmopolitan to the opposite gender. Some even began drinking as a way to protest government interference, and to mock religious ideologies. Humans, as a species, will always seek out experiences and substances that alter their day-to-day reality, for no other reason than because they want to.
The Government should not be telling people what they can/ can’t put in their bodies.
Chemical addiction to certain drugs is arguably not a choice of the user, since the habit arguably becomes an almost uncontrollable instinct, removing the informed consent of the drug user. If drug use was always a conscious and informed choice (as libertarians often tend to argue when advocating liberalization) then rehab centers would either A) not be needed or B) have a much higher success rate
Keep that western mindset to yourself. You do not have a right to hurt yourself. A society of unhealthy people is an unhealthy society. We want our societies healthy. We believe in harm reduction not just for others but also for the self.
@valenciasaintilus9573 where did I say I anything about harm reduction? I'm speaking about bodily autonomy, smart guy. You can still practice harm reduction with freedom! I'm a proud and free Westerner enjoying my life the way I want to do it.
@@yvito125 Want autonomy and freedom , go to Mars .
@@yvito125 you call the right to hurt yourself “ bodily autonomy” but for us it simply self harm. And one does not have the right to hurt themselves.
Good info! Always something new and interesting to learn on your channel. The US has no idea how to stop drug abuse so far. People always find a way to obtain what they want, or need.
Why dose it fall on usa? Pretty sure mankind has had a drug problem ever since we found it.
Ancient Person: Eats Khat. >
Ancient Person: Tweaks for 30 hours straight. >
Ancient Person: *"THIS PLANT IS MAGICAL AND GOD GAVE IT TO ME!!!"*
In 2007 at JFK airport I became aware of a high priority smuggling interdiction by NYPD , Customs & DEA that is ongoing to today, I think, they were concerned at users dangerous behavior under the influence of Khat and it being mixed with something else, they mentioned but weren't specific but were highly concerned about it enough to target it with priority, it was entering in large volumes it seemed
It's worst effect is it boosts laziness, most users are sloths.
@@Tony.kayAmiri that's not Khat bro. Khat actually makes you more alert. I'd use it in kenya to work online for 18 hours. The kind of users you're talking about are in the middle east. They're not sloths because of khat. We can say the same thing about hookah... They're just generally lazy.
I was deployed on a gaurd rotation at a Joint Navy port in Djibouti. Our port had a lot of staffing by locals from the nearby town. We could not allow them access on base if they were under the effects of Khat or had khat leaves in thier possession. If they were found to be consuming khat anywhere on base, thier access was revoked and they were fired. Such a disgusting drug... teeth rotting qnd falling out, drooling and stumbling like a zombie...
I've always been fascinated by the hypocrisy around this drug. "Drinking beer is the worst crime" and "There is nothing wrong enjoying a little meth leaves for 6 hours" seems like a conflicting lifestyle.
Walter white is going to sort the situation out 😮
Drugs are drugs. It doesn't really make sense to put them into different brackets. Yeah, sure, fentanyl is way worse than a joint, but in the end drug users are all doing the same thing. It doesn't matter if it's a joint, a beer, khat, heroin, fentanyl, etc.
@@CRneu today drugs are used for escaping reality and recreation enhancements, rather than for spiritual development .
Love is the best drug ever and much more addictive than any substance.
@@CRneuthat’s like saying Tylenol is no different from morphine because they’re both drugs 🙄
@@BigBoaby-sg1yothat’s such a boomer take.
Every time you post a new video, i level up! .. i love this stuff, and Simon allways seem to have a new story!!
I had never heard of this. Thanks Simon. What an insidious market.
Most of the "bath salts" are derived from khat
The market itself, nor the drug for that matter, is not inherently insidious. Prohibition and criminalization makes it insidious.
Plenty use in the African comminties in the UK. You can buy it from corner shops in the right places.
Ive seen 5 police trying to restrain one guy on this and having a very difficult time. As a medic i dealt with a guy with his scalp taken off with a machete while on it. He didnt even notice the injury.
It's a cathinone. It can be isolated, extracted, and refined into a pretty potent substance. Mephedrone is a cathinone. Cathinone is banned in the UK
I will have to hear about this. In Djibouti, they let everyone chew it to suppress hunger and calm the people down. Easier than spending money on what their people actually need.
Last I had heard of khat, it was still considered like strong caffeine
It still is, Simon is waaaay off base with his fear mongering on this
@@kennedykariukinSimon literally said the same thing you're replying to. Watch the video before spewing
what's crazy is both of this & coffee come from Ethiopia 😳😳
As an American the only reason I know about Khat is Far Cry 2, where it's mentioned in a single side mission. Considering how ineffectual the drug war has been when it comes to weed or meth, I doubt trying to ban Khat would work much better if demand grows here.
This makes me want to hear your take on the tea-smuggling gangs of 18th century Britain. While tea wasn't illegal, it was taxed out of the reach of all but the elite--at least the legal stuff. The smugglers seemed capable of all of the theft, murder, torture and other evils of the drug trade today--showing that it's prohibition, not legalization, that cause the societal problems around a drug.
Granted, there is domestic abuse wherever people spend more money on their addiction than their families. But how much of that comes from social norms in how a drug is used? Carrie Nation went on a rampage because of the immense suffering caused by it being an acceptable norm for men to go straight from work to the pub and not come out till they had spent the family's grocery money--children were literally starving to death because their alcoholic fathers drank their suppr-money. Yet while we still have some alcoholics, it's no longer normalized. Nor do people today cut their workdays in half to spend hours in coffeeshops and tea-shops--although they used to. Plainly societies can shift towards moderation and functionality.
Besides, it's impossible to protect unhappy people from becoming addicted to something. We can't close down all the restaurants and ration food just because of an epidemic of overeating. We don't regulate shopping when there are people suffering from shopping addiction. And then there's the case of Nunuvit, one of the most remote communities in the world, where they have banned alcohol and where it's too much trouble for too little profit for drug dealers to go there. Unhappy people still get addicted to huffing gasoline.
Maybe we should explore instead how we've created a society that so many find literally unbearable? Maybe we should do something about that.
But do please do an "Into the Shadows" on the Cuppa Gangs!
When a remote place like nunavut, where "society" with its cities, hordes of zombified people and concrete boxes is a far sight, has people getting high on gasoline... I think the problem is not society.
Animals in general like to get high. It's been proven with lab research on mice, you've seen it in nature, from elefants eating fermented fruit to get drunk to reindeer eating magic mushrooms...
It's not "society"... it's in our nature. What separates us from animals is the fact we have a supersized prefrontal cortex, which boost learning from past experience to predict the better outcome and planning ahead.
The problem is that some people completely ignore this... It's called being irresponsible.
No alcoholic starts out his addiction without a unhealthy dose of irresponsability to begin with. Same for a crack head, or a cocaine addict.
I agree the harshness of society can definitively lead to people trying to find an escape. But that's what every drug addict will tell you to try to take the responsibility off his shoulders. People have to stop blaming "society" for everything that happens to them. It's your choice, always.
This. So much this. I'm always weary of bans on anything because it's not gonna solve anything.
The issue is societal and acceptance of doing drugs and alcohol for "entertainment." (The past was literally the worst so often times the alcohol was safer to drink because it was more treated than whatever water there was which resulted in far less deaths.) Let's make people want to live. Good work-life ratio. Good wages. A good view about living, instead of saying life should be torture.
if your "prohibition causes crime" logic held any water, we'd see skyrocketing homicide rates. Prohibition works. Tea has caffeine, which is a drug. Lack of caffeine in an addiction causes withdrawal headaches and irritability. Drugs, not prohibition, cause crime rates to rise. Or are you suggesting that crack, heroin, and meth be legal?
@@SkunkApe407 You make a good point. The cases are almost parallel. But there's a difference between banning a thing and banning an act. Things don't commit crimes--it's what we do with the things that does harm.
Still, solving the source of problems is better than punishing them after the fact, if you can do it. One of the reasons I said what I did was based on Medellin, which used to be the murder capital of the world, due to drug gangs. Murders were illegal there, of course, but it didn't slow down the problem, which was caused by drug gang violence. What did slow it down was making drug addiction a medical rather than a legal problem.
Addicts could get a drug by prescription legally and cheaply, ending their criminal activities and stabilizing their lives enough for them to get into rehabilitation--after all, they were getting their drugs from those wanting to see them get well, instead of those wanting them to get more people hooked on drugs. The drug cartels had no more financial incentive to stay and left for greener pastures.
So, in a sense, eliminating the reason that the murders were taking place was more effective than illegalizing murder.
@@SkunkApe407 I should also address why this didn't work with prescription drug abuse. It wasn't actually tried. There was no middle-ground. Once a doctor realized that his patient had become addicted, by law he had to cut him off completely, often in rural areas that lacked medical support for withdrawal. So instead of ceasing to be an addict, the patient became a criminal addict, robbing people and committing other crimes to get the drugs much more expensively on the streets, from people encouraging them to get still more addicted and to addict others.
I am not a fan of mind-altering drugs. I spent my youth terrorized by druggies in the family. But I also saw--against what I wanted to see--how legalizing marijuana in various states reduced deaths from overdoses (people were no longer getting their weed from pushers eager to hook them on the harder stuff, plus doctors could prescribe marijuana instead of harder drugs for pain) and new dependencies dropped because of the lack of minors smoking pot. A pusher will start customers on drugs as young as possible to get the most mileage out of them, but a legitimate business-owner doesn't want to lose his license by selling to minors.
Khat has been around since the early 2000s in south africa. It's not a new drug. It's just social media catching up now. I would rather worry about the more serious drugs like tranq and opioids your friendly family doctor prescribed for you 👌
South Africa has long planted Catha edulis in afforestation schemes. Which makes sense, because it is quite adapted to the local conditions and it yields engineering-quality wood relatively quickly.
3:18 I love when little bits of the Blazement make their way into Simon's more serious work. 🤣
RIGHT!?! Blazement has crept into almost all of his various channels... His channels basically make up my Top 10 list.... Lol!
Black Hawk Down. All the locals were so dedicated in their attacks, suffering over 1,000 casualties vs the U.S.’s 30 because they were all hopped up on khat.
I wonder what the DEA would do if people caught on to the fact that almost all cylindrical cacti are psychoactive?
Lol they know that and they also know that a few people isolating psychedelic alkaloids from cacti aren’t really a problem.
@@MrMannyfresh78 San Pedro and Peruvian Torch, while a pain to prepare, provide a really nice trip; more relaxed than acid (but much longer onset).
Never tried it but longer onsets can be a blessing compared to shorter more abrupt ones in my experience
I have a San Pedro cactus. It is NOT easy to prepare it in a way that doesn't make you excruciatingly sick. Lots of people know about it, and only a few want to try it. Of the few that try it, almost no one tries it again
I miss my cat. I can't believe anyone would eat one! How horrifying.
You just kinda chew it and keep it your mouth but yeah. Cats taste bad like that.
@@myboysd5772😂
😂
Keep going simon! Enjoy your work!
Wait. That cannot be right. 500 liters of water per day, per chewer, to support the growth of the product. That is 132 gallons! Most people do not use that much water all day, to include for showering.
I used to live in Kenya and had seen Khat for sale (and used ) in the streets. I now live back in my native New Zealand and imagine my surprise when I found out it now grows wild in some places here, after it somehow managed to gain purchase in the soil. The stuff is a weed
The wood is quite good. Engineering quality.
Ive had some khat with kenyans when it was legal in the uk, i felt great. The only dangerous thing is the banning of natural occuring plants that we, as humans, have every right to choose to consume or not.
"Bath salts are highly addictive designer drugs that cause depression, anxiety, tremors and extreme paranoia."
Sounds wonderful.
Synthetic versions of drugs always seem to be so much worse
@@lancerhades971well yeah a lot of them are made with toxic ingredients thus creating a bad response in the cns.
Let me correct Simon: “Bath salts” are intensely euphoric stimulants which provide hours of pleasurable energy, yet calm focus and heightened empathy. Sound good now?
If you only list _possible_ negative side effects (usually from overuse), and none of the pleasurable main effects, it’s going to sound bad, but believe me, cathinones are wonderful.
Had pure 4MMC many times and Ive never experienced one stated effect.
Maybe if you combine with alcohol and you use it for several days (festival combo), you wont feel exactly wonderful the next few days :) But thats reasonable (and you should avoid it to minimize harm)
I'll never get how government thinks banning something will solve the entire problem. Most of the time without thinking a step further like your comment about the pubs.
It was crazy seeing everyone in Yemen chewing it in the afternoon everyday when I was there in 2013. It would be the size of a baseball in the side of their mouth.
Nanny state playing parent for full grown adults they claim are "free" to choose for themselves. It's so obnoxious for the government to assume they're your mommy or daddy telling you what you can and can't do with your own dang body.
There was a 7-11 in San Benito county California that had khat growing behind the store so it can be grown in the US. They eventually stopped them from growing it but I could imagine Santa Cruz county to be a place easy to grow it secretly.
I`m from Kenya and i can`t believe how accurate this is
I have never heard of this drug before in my life, I'm amazed. At first I thought Simon was having me on, but wow...
Perhaps Khat use can explain why many ancient rulers declaired themselves to be living God's 🤔
When I was going through an experimental phase about 15yrs ago I wanted to try Khat..
But nobody knew what I was talking about. Never got hold of any due to nobody even knowing what it was.
Ended up playing around with some A-Class substances for 6months instead, then dropped it all.. I don't even drink anymore now. Not worth the next couple days not feeling 100%.
It's nothing special bro. Dries your mouth out. Not even that good really.
@@JundunYashua I was thinking of making a tea with it, see what that did.
I'm originally from a township in south Africa. In the last decade or so, people have been using household products to create Khat powder from the leaves which is highly potent and has effects similar to methamphetamine. It's bad, I've already lost a friend to the drug and I might lose more. It's highly addictive and is actually one of the things behind Amapiano lifestyle. The world really doesn't know how crazy it is there
Good vid! Khat is mostly banned because it's a precursor for a current popular club drug.
sounds like a lot of men don't need much convincing to put their own wants ahead of their family regardless of addictions...
Approximately 6 tons of khat arrives in the UK per week, mostly by air from Kenya. The bulk of this is in transit for supply to the United States of America. The UK is a base for khat distribution to many countries, including the US, where the plant is illegal. Khat is used in bundles of approximately 250g of fresh stems and leaves; each bundle costs £3-5 (approximately £15/kg). In the United States of America, where khat is illegal, the street price is approximately $400/kg. that what the government report say plus much more. seen a documentary recently regarding this from the farms and getting it to the city or airport, miraa and driving at high speed has become iconic in the Kenyan miraa trade and is an image used even in Kenyan cartoons. now they say they drive slower still at speed 80-100mph but they said when they imported to UK they drive as fast as possible much faster than they do now what shown on documentary what was dam fast , tend to use Toyota pickups on documentary basically a race between drivers, easy to find it Dangerous Roads, The Flying Trucks of Kenya on tube it a good watch and driver goes into bit how the bans effected drivers and farmers.
Thanks. I was surprised when trekking in Peru that "Bed tea" , served to you first thing when you wake up in your tent was Coca tea, and the leaves were offered around for free to chew. I got to like the Coca tea but not sure I ever got any sort of high. We were warned to be careful because back in the UK many employers have mandatory drug testing and this could show up as a positive for a while.
Generally speaking it’s like betel nut. You have to add slaked lime (burnt limestone) to activate the alkaloids.
Slightly odd question, but if it's chewed why does it affect productivity? Isn't that specifically the sort of activity you can do whilst working (or anything else for that matter)? Heck shouldn't a drug which increases energy improve productivity if anything?
It only increases productivity on a short term, once addiction reaches a more advanced state the users tend to skip work and other responsabilities,some even resort to crime and such
You can say this about amphetamine or meth too.
@@Seibaunite Tell this to the vast majority of all construction workers who are on meth. Shit still gets done
As a user I work while on it, where it is legal, long distance bus and truck drivers can't miss it because it enhances alertness while combating fatigue( basically any type of work).
I'm a software engineer. I always code with Khat. I'm chewing right now. The alert level lasts for days. I code for 2 to 3 days without sleep.
Facts! increased mental alertness and productivity
Whenever there's a difference between the natural version of a drug and the artificial variety, I always wonder if it's a chirality issue. That is, a lot of organic molecules are "right handed" or "left handed," the same molecule but one is a mirror image of the other. When nature settles on one or the other, it always makes the one it settled on. Artificial synthesis of the molecule often isn't as selective, though, and will produce both right and left handed versions. Which wouldn't be a problem except that in some molecules, the chirality or handedness of the molecule is important. One can be perfectly safe, and the other can be highly dangerous.
Honestly
I remember buying this stuff from a head shop in Portsmouth in the early nineties. Very subtle but creeps up on you. We even brewed it up with magic mushrooms, bit like taking a mild E
Alcohol is a legal psychoactive substance.
my question is if its a stimulant then why doesnt it enable people to work harder and more focused like other stimulants?
high doses of khat release to much dopamine for people to focus.
I remember khat kicking off the bath salt craze.
Khat is no more a drug than tea. I tried chewing a mouthful for hours, and observed no effect on me.
I used to really like the cathinone 3mmc when it was still legal in the Netherlands, a derivative of 4mmc, which is essentially synthetic khat with some other chemicals in it. I always really enjoyed the euphoriaboost from it, it would last pretty long too, not as intense as mdma but definitely very pleasurable at least in my experience, especially socially. Would describe it as a mix between a light MDMA euphoria with the alertness and stimulation of cocaine. Never took it more than one evening every two weeks or so, but I did know people who got addicted to it.
Man. My palate for chemicals these days is pretty limited but you almost have me sold 😂
@@MFobesbelieve me, friend, do not fuck around with synthetic cathinones. The person who wrote the comment above was very lucky to not indulge more than a few times and therefore avoided destroying his life as he knew it. Read up about cathinones and believe the horror stories you will find. There is a before and an after synthetic cathinones and i promise you that you will regret for the rest of your life that your life before cathinones or khat for that matter is gone. Just don’t do it.
@@PP-pi7li I do believe you. I don’t dabble in that stuff these days but you have made me interested in researching some more. Your comment is appreciated.
@@PP-pi7li I see what you're saying, but everybody reacts differently. I also know many people for who stims is not a big problem and very occasional (excluding meth and crack, although even with those there are rare cases of using sporadically) I believe it is our right as grown people to put in our bodies what we want, the majority of people also won't down a bottle of wine in one go but will just have a glass, look at these compounds the same way and you shouldn't have any problems. Be very careful what you use and how you use it. Get your life in order first, allot of people who are confident and happy without drugs can hold back against addictive behaviour and just use it at a festival or party/gathering with friends. Once you know how the drug can be destructive and you really ask yourself: Do I want to do this all the time and end up addicted, or do I wanna have fun for once and live the rest of my life until another moment arises in the future. That's the way me and allot of my friends who can control it look at it. Theres tweakers, theres alcoholics, and theres responsible use. Anything can be abused, videogames, pornography, any other form of entertainment, marijuana you name it.
@@MFobes I'm glad to hear it. Stay safe
Poverty for itself is more than enough to disrupt familiar structure. People look for something to escape the world they live in, and people who think they know better treat them as criminals.
I had some Khat infused beer from Israel a couple years ago. It's a stimulant in small quantities and I would equate it to the Wormwood in Absinthe. It also makes colors brighter. When you move your hand, you see "trails".
No it doesn't.
One thing alot of people don't discuss with any stimulant is the increase in ego and confidence. With stronger stimulants that increase is to a delusional point. It is hilarious they said they could talk to any girl or win any argument but that Is the nature of what stimulants do at a certain point!
I've taken Khat a number of times and it is like a extreme version of caffeine. Last for like 12+ hours, can't say I enjoyed it that much.
Ethiopians used to sell khat in Stockwell in the newsagents, in the bottom row of the drinks fridge. There used to be somalian cafes where there would be men just drinking coffee and chewing on khat. It took time for it to be banned.
I'm a little confused why you didn't touch on the fact that "Wellbutrin" (Bupropion) is also a synthetic cathinone. It's a weaker one but is in fact still a synthetic cathinone. There are even people up in Canada that have begun abusing it by IV injection and claim it has a simular feeling like base-cocaine (crack). However, the cuts or ingredients added to the pills don't sit well under the skin and when the users miss the vein it causes horrible abscesses.
I would think that wouldn't be worth it given that the high it produces is so shitty buuuut I guess I'd be wrong. They're having similar issues in Philadelphia with the fentanyl supply being cut with Xylazine (an animal tranquilizer). Although much, much worse grizzly abscesses leading to a ton of amputations. I think you aughtta do a video on that! It's the worst thing I've ever seen.
Anyways, just thought if your viewers found this video interesting then they'd REALLY find it interesting that such a mainstream medication like Wellbutrin is also a synthetic cathinone - like bath salts but much less potent...
Xylazine doesnt cause abscess. Its causes necrosis. Its a vasoconstrictor, shrinking blood vessels. Blood carries oxygen & remove waste. Without it the flesh dies. But these wounds can heal with proper cleaning and debriding, hard for ppl suffering houselessness to maintain. The first symptom is swollen ankles & feet. Take asprin, 81 to 250 mg 1-2x per day to thin the blood so it gets thru. Get it at $🌳. Get on methadone. Certain regions its hard to get. At the very least, switch to heroin if possible. Its not in the heroin supply or the fentanyl heroin dealers sell. Switch to pharmaceuticals if you got the $ for it. Seems intentional. Suppliers wont add cut that quickly kills or discourages use. Its only in very particular areas & the supply is tainted all at once?
Kazoze Zaidi🎉🎉🎉🎉. Captain set flight altitude to 40,000 ft. Chaser check, shukisha check, Aluta Kibiriti. Kaende sana.
About 30 years ago, I discovered Khat for sale by post in a magazine, so bought some. It's disgusting. Incredibly bitter, but you can boil the leaves up and it tastes a bit better, like the juice you get in a can of peas. It has a very subtle effect, but definitely does something, but you have to chew loads of it, or drink a lot of the tea.
You took it wrong bro. Someone should have mentioned the right way to take it.
You chew it with peanuts which takes away the bitterness. It has to be less than 36 hrs old
That was a trippy watch, because this is my first time watching a Serious Simon vid. Its ultra weird without one of his rambling tangents
As a big fan of synthetic cathinones and curious about this natural one, I was really disappointed to find that I couldn’t order any Khat online (not that I could find).
Same. Wanted to find where it all begins :)
The same khat I use regularly seems to be treated like coke somewhere else! Quite interesting
Raise your hand if you are Somali 😂
Me😂😂😂
based off of my pale white skin I am clearly 101% somali
I'm from the UK and used to work in a homeless support charity and encountered this khat stuff before with Ethiopian asylum seekers who ended up homeless service users after being kicked out of hotels once their asylum claims were accepted. I also remember the M-kat epidemic back in the day that stuff was nasty AF sent many people down a dark path.
In the early 90s I went to see my friend from uni, and on one day we had khat tea, on another we roamed the streets of his town chewing on khat and amused ourselves chomping it in front of the police station. It was fun, like mild speed as the video says. The tea was pretty rank, and it was very astringent chewing it, like munching raw rhubarb (don't do that btw, it's poisonous as I found out).
We got it wrapped in banana leaves and it was incredibly cheap compared to speed or other drugs we were in to (even cheaper than acid which was still 4 or 5 quid a tab at the time).
"Meth light", with the coca cola script....loool 🤣🤣🤣
I had a co-worker friend from Sudan (Muslim), I asked him about khat. He said it is disgusting, worse than chewing tobacco.
Haven’t watched in a while love the new editing! It is on POINT!
I am a Marine Corps combat veteran of the humanitarian aid timeframe to Somalia (Blackhawk Down era) the clan fighters used to live on Khat. I never knew the full details about it till just now. Thank you for such an informative video.
Come here in Kenya meru to be specific I will show you more about it
i have never seen this guy break character, in my head he was a very morose, serious person, thank you for keeping his crack-up in!
Hahaha yeah you should watch the casual criminalist if you'd like to see some more of the fun simon. I've never seen him do it on this channel either.
Thank goodness for your highly informational video chats Simon.
There's another type of khat known as 'muguka' or 'jaba' that's much cheaper and also gets you higher than giraffes nostrils in less than 10 minutes (5minutes if it's really good quality jaba) and yes, it's high lasts just as long as the more expensive khat.
-Khat consuming Kenyan-
The latest drug crackdown? When has any country really managed to crack down on drugs?
Here in South Africa you get a white powder called khat, its this plant but put through the same process as cocaine to get a snortable powder
Many poor people who can’t afford cocaine use it
I had a similar experience when I had ketamine therapy. I went from just waiting to die and loving life in 24hrs. If your stuffing look into that too! Dr’s are prescribing it more and more thankfully.