By: Mohamed Osman Ibrahim
Without any question our society has totally failed to do anything about the increasing number of young khat chewers including our under-age children. In the year 2008, a survey bye AVU journalism student in Hargeysa showed that two of every three students in Somaliland secondary schools chew Khat. This is an alarming signal to every citizen.
Khat, Jaad, or qaad grows on a tree that is about 5 meters long. It is the leaves of this killer tree that are chewed for their stimulant effects. The active ingredients of Khat are cathinone and cathine, which produce psychotropic, euphoric, metabolic and cardiovascular effects similar to amphetamine, as health doctors have confirmed.
Khat chewing is a predominantly male activity, though khat chewing these days is also spreading among women and children who are becoming the new victims of this fatal tree.
Although khat is commonly chewed, it is sometimes taken as a tea or smoked. After being picked from the tree, khat is sold to customers enfolded in banana leaves or plastic bags and khat addicts prefer to chew it while it is fresh (within 48 hours).
Historically, khat was used for medical purposes. But nowadays it is used as a recreational drug. It is usually chewed with a group, but is also consumed individually by those who think it boosts their functioning ability.
Khat chewers face many health problems such as insomnia, oral cancer, inflammation of the mouth and other parts of the oral cavity, lack of appetite, constipation and other gastro-intestinal tract problems, irritability, feelings of anger and aggressiveness, nightmares, reduced birth weight in babies and inhibited lactation in khat-chewing mothers, tension and impotence among male khat chewers .
Though Khat has all these problems, many people in Somaliland defend its chewing. For example, in a survey that I took, Abdi Ali, a 20 years old secondary school student said , “Khat gives us pleasure, it is just like fruits, it has health benefits including freshness of mind, masculinity as well as good socializing; the least I can say is that it is a tree from God’s paradise.”
Abdi is a good example of how mistaken beliefs have taken hold among the majority of Somaliland’s youth who think it is normal to chew khat and have a good image of khat chewers. At this point, it is estimated that 90% of Somalilanders chew khat. Although khat related health problems have been steadily increasing, Somaliland’s community is making no efforts to control the spread of khat use.
Khat is imported into Somaliland from Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian government gains a lot of hard currency from its exporting of khat into Somaliland.
Here are some steps which we can take to decrease the spread of khat chewing in Somaliland:
1- Somaliland government should increase its taxation of khat coming from Ethiopia or elsewhere so that people would be less likely to buy it.
2- Somaliland government should create employment opportunities so that citizens would be busy working rather than killing time by chewing khat.
3- The ministry of health and local NGOs should design and implement educational and awareness programs on the damage that the chewing of khat inflicts on the citizen’s health, finances and family relations.





 

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