Ignoring drug advisors, the UK will ban khat

Stupid.

Remember David Nutt got sacked for telling the truth?

These politicians don't want to hear the facts, it's all about point scoring with the general public for the next election.

 

But the government said on Wednesday that it was concerned that a lack of evidence could have led the ACMD to underestimate the risk to communities posed by the drug.

This is fucking hilarious. It's like saying "A lack of evidence may have caused the Jury to underestimate the likelihood the Defendant was guilty."

 

Hope to see a new wave of resignations from the ACMD.

Considering David Cameron's past cannabis use, and his wife's fondness of raving, I sometimes wonder if the government's drug policy is actually a strawman troll to get people to rise up in protest.

Has the Home Office actually ignored the ACMD's advice this blatantly before?

Update: Here is some text from the Chairman of London Somali Youth Forum. One of the nutters who pushed for this legisation...

Abukar says...."For our community, youths and Somali Professionals,
this is issue is fight against outdated cultural ideology,
ignorance, poverty of aspirations, a struggle to unlock
the potential opportunities of over community so that
they can take their rightful position in our economy as citizens."

Ah yes, we must all be healthy and sober and bow down before the Great Economy!

Economy akbar!

Economy akbar!


PS

Don't forget to pay your taxes either!

 

It was banned in Canada a few years ago mostly to give Canada Customs a make work project. I assume you need a lot because seizures are always huge amounts. I guess it inflates the border patrols numbers. It was also a "drug" used almost exclusively by African immigrants here too, with little to no popularity among the rest of the population. An easy target really and the community the ban targets doesn't have much political power. I wouldn't say it was a racist intent per se, but it was a slap in the face to the cultural traditions of a large community. The special interest group of law enforcement has more power than some immigrants do. They want to ban everything, it gives them more work.
Canada's government is also a puppet of big pharma so anything herbal is in danger. When it got banned everyone was so apathetic because it was some immigrants that did it and banning it didn't effect them in any way. People need to change the way they think. Just because you would never use a substance doesn't mean your rights are not being taken away. Its easy for the government to target drugs with small user bases. Make up a bunch of lies and people just believe it. I see it all the time, new drug gets semi popular and propaganda from government ensues. Every time something gets banned we all lose another right.

 

^ So you think this is about racial discrimination?

I wonder if part it has to do with how pharmaceutical companies always want to have the monopoly on certain chemicals... Wasn't khat banned in the US around the same time certain pharm companies took patents out on newly synthesized cathinones?

edit: Looking now at the histories of Khat and synthesized cathinones, I can see no strong correlation between syntheses/patents/approvals and the banning of Khat and methcathinone. I was grabbing at straws, evidently

Wellbutrin (Bupropion), anyone?

 

Khat was banned in the US in the early 90s because it got lumped together with methcathinone, which some biker gangs were synthesizing instead of methamphetamine.

source: http://www.erowid.org/plants/khat/khat_law1.shtml

 

I remember reading a while a go that when mephedrone (m kat) came out many news reports were saying it was synthesis from khat so I reckon that's the real reason why it's banned

if that was the case it should have been banned at the same time as methdrone
poor ukers
your government goes hard on drugs

 

if that was the case it should have been banned at the same time as methdrone
poor ukers
your government goes hard on drugs

I know, it's a sad state of affairs..

 

This is likely alot more to do with the polls then it is khat.
The government as usual is pandering to the uptight middle class voters, whose only bigger fear then DRUGS is the dreaded IMMIGRATION.
Is it coincidence that they have (against AMCD advice, again) banned a drug that is used almost exclusively by specific ethnic groups, who have grown in numbers in recent years?....i think not.

 

Politicians should not decide drug laws, it should be based on science and facts.. People like David Nutt...

 

Or at least follow the advice to some degree, provided by the people (AMCD). Who have been employed using taxpayers money.
This is not just stupidity and obvious vote and media pandering, but an abuse and waste of the public purse.

 

what is the point in having the acmd if thair advice is constantly bing ignored.

 

^
my point exactly.
I mean, you wouldnt buy a dog and then bark yourself!

 

I'm confused about this Khat substance. Has anyone here tried it? Is it the Caffeine companies lobbying politicians to ban khat because they fear declining coffee and energy drink sales? Or is that thought just a product of living in a world where big pharma, alcohol, and tobacco lobby successfully against marijuana?

 

I'm confused about this Khat substance. Has anyone here tried it? Is it the Caffeine companies lobbying politicians to ban khat because they fear declining coffee and energy drink sales? Or is that thought just a product of living in a world where big pharma, alcohol, and tobacco lobby successfully against marijuana?

It doesn't tend to work that way in the UK. Policy decision tends to be driven by the knee-jerk tabloid media, or more appropriately in the case of the Conservatives, Ideology.

 

I'm confused about this Khat substance. Has anyone here tried it? Is it the Caffeine companies lobbying politicians to ban khat because they fear declining coffee and energy drink sales? Or is that thought just a product of living in a world where big pharma, alcohol, and tobacco lobby successfully against marijuana?

There are two khat trip reports here. This is one of them:

Trial 1: 8 leaves are chewed and held in mouth for extended period of time, I notice a loss of jet lag induced fatigue and a willingness to get onto the beach and go surfing, and that’s exactly what I do. My heart rate seems unchanged, effects are virtually transparent and less anxiogenic than caffeine. Almost purely PNS, if the euphoria is there its mild, duration is unknown but fatigue is lifted for the rest of the day, will repeat.

Trial 2: 10 leaves are chewed, the taste is unpleasant and almost seems as if the leaves have soaked in the new age/wicken taste of the store that sold them to me, incense and raccoon penis bone, I chew a mint as well. Again all fatigue is lifted but I only feel mildly stimulated, I vastly prefer this to coffee and would chew these leaves as a general pick-me-up instead, it might even be preferable to low dose amphetamine to shake off morning lethargy. No come down is noted.

Trial 3: 25 leaves are chewed, my mouth is full of plant material, and I swallow bulging cheekfulls of green Khat drool. An overwhelming fatigue I feel from sleeping improperly the previous night is erased, I hurriedly pack my bags to get on a plane. The euphoria is pronounced. I begin to fear the leaves anorexic effects as Cathine is sold as an appetite suppressant...the scourge of stimulant anorexia is something I can no longer bear, luckily I am able to get down two small meals over the course of the day. The synergy with piracetam is apparent, as has been the case with every stimulant I have worked with. No hangover was noted. I wonder if it can be smoked?

Summary: The potential of the dried leaves as a recreational drug, is probably low (I would estimate 30-40 leaves would be needed to produce stimulation equivalent to 20mg of racemic amphetamine) but as a practical stimulant it was quite useful and easy on the body producing no intestinal discomfort or insomnia, and minimal anxiety. If this were more readily available I would no doubt keep it in the repertoire as a mild alternative stimulant.

 

Well I'm not gonna circlejerk what we all already know.

What I am interested in is why this was even brought up. Why did they think Khat is bad?

 

Well I'm not gonna circlejerk what we all already know.

What I am interested in is why this was even brought up. Why did they think Khat is bad?

Because african immigrants chew it and in the eyes of the Conservatives, Immigrants (Especially african ones) = The bad folk.

 

^
just like when the american government wanted to demonize cannabis and linked it to mexicans and crime.
This political tactic is so transparent and obvious that its embarrassing that it still works.

 

MoFo_S....That's gotta be one of the funniest lines I've read in a little while, but due to the fact that I could not find any tangible evidence of this, I'm afraid I may have underestimated the possible LACK of humor and therefore could not laugh......Wait, I can't find any tangible evidence it's NOT funny, either! Ah ha ha ha, wo ho ho!!!...Uh....shit! This is confusing as f--k.

 

"It is a very touchy subject. Some people see it like a drug; some people see it like coffee," Abdulaziz Kamus, president of the African Resource Center in Washington, D.C.

This basically sums up the retarded misinformation and arbitrary categorizing

Alcohol and coffee, not drugs. Everything else, yes drugs.