A review by Peter Kandelar in the Lancet for April 22 draws attention to a growing drug problem affecting Yemen today. The habit is widespread in that country of chewing the leaves of khat, Catha edulis. The effects of khat are not unlike those produced by amphetamine, and khat's adoption as a stimulant to while away the tedium of existence is considered to pre-date the popularity of coffee.
Catha edulis is a tree that is native to the mountain regions of east Africa, and its cultivation has been widely adopted in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia, and to a lesser extent in Kenya and Tanzania. Its use as a stimulant was first reported from Ethiopia, whence it spread around the 15th century.
Chewing khat imparts a moderate degree of euphoria and users become cheerful and talkative, although they may suffer mild depression afterwards. The effect of khat in diminishing appetite may sometimes result in malnutrition, hypothermia and hyperventilation. Most of the possible serious ill-effects are naturally avoided because of the limitation to the quantity which can be chewed at a time.
It is calculated that at least 80 per cent of men, 60 per cent of women, and an increasing number of children younger than 10, indulge in the chewing of khat daily. Some 40 per cent of irrigated farmland in Yemen is at present devoted to cultivating khat, more than is involved in raising crops of coffee and cereals.