Khat: Consumption and Problems in Somalia

INTRODUCTION Khat is known in Somalia as "qaad" or "jaad". It is a plant whose leaves and stem tips are used as stimulant or medicine in certain areas of East Africa, Madagascar and Arabia. The consumers get a feeling of well-being and mental alertness with loquacity, excitement and sometimes anxiety (Halbach 1972). To achieve the climax of such feeling, they continue chewing for four to six hours or even more. The after-effects are usually insomnia, numbness, lack of concentration and anorexia. We have detected these and other effects during our research. Extensive descriptions are those reported by Halbach (1972), Hughes (1973) and by a WHO Advisory Group (Vol. XXXII No. 3 of Bulletin on Narcotics, 1980). The above studies point out in summary the following effects: constipation probably due to the astringent effect of tannins, anorexia, stomatitis, oesophagitis, gastritis, meteorism and paralytic ileus, cardiovascular effects such as tachycardia, palpitation sometimes with extrasistoles, hypertension, myocardial insufficiency, cerebral haemorrhage, migraine, hyperthermia, sweating (due probably to the hyperthermia itself and the high environmental temperature preferred by chewers), mydriasis, impairment of sexual activity in men, pulmonary oedema, hepato-toxic effects thought to be related to the tannic acid, etc. Cathinone induces behavioural and EEG changes in experimental animals. The patterns of change have been reported by I. Khan and P. Hughes 1979, Abdullahi S. Elmi et al., 1980, A. Berardi et al., 1980, Zelger et al., 1980 and others.