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Khat (Catha Edulis) - Summary - Turning Over A New Leaf

hamhurricane

Bluelighter
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
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Riding A White Swan
While traveling about Australia I was surprised to find a small town with an active disregard for established drug laws, openly selling a plethora of well know but illegal ethnobotanicals including but not limited to; cannabis, san perdro, salvia divinorium, philosophers stones as well as other psylocybin containing fungi, and most unexpectedly dried Khat leaves.

I consider myself a stimulant aficionado and jumped on the opportunity to sample natures closest amphetamine analogue (with the exception of the mythical methamphetamine producing acacia, I know). The medium sized serrated green leaves where packed loosely into a plastic envelope with a card instructing the user to "Chew four leaves with a stick of gum and dance like a rapper all night!"

Some research taught me that the chemical composition of these dried leaves was a bit less interesting than I initially expected, it seems Cathinone is only present in fresh leaves and evaporates within 48 hours (if somebody could explain this unusual reaction it would be greatly appreciated) dried leaf only contains the more stable chemical D-norpseudoephedrine or Cathine. I know very little about the pharmacology of Cathine, its concentration in the leaf or if it even has CNS activity but...

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.

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Decent report!

I got some dried khat leaves from Nimbin too, but threw them out after learning they do fuck all when dried.
 
I got myself a small catha edulis plant, so good to know only the fresh leaves are really active, wiki seems to say the cathinone converts to cathine when they are drying after being removed.

Maybe I will do an extraction of the cathinone with fresh leaves, or just pull off some fresh leaves and much when the plant is bigger :)

So Nimbin ey infamous lil town must make a trip up there soon many goodies around apparently ;)
 
yeah, those little hippy towns always smell like raccoon penis bone.

congrats on sampling khat. i've always wanted to.
 
Always wanted to try khat.

What's this about a meth-producing acacia tree? I'll have to look into it! :)
 
the meth acacia tree is bullshit. one report, probably faked.


i got 3 khat trees in the back yard :D (got em before they were banned). the narrow leaf is the best.

if you do want to do an extraction mcwally, you have about 15 minutes in which to do it (and you'll need to do it into the right liquids or no dice) otherwise you'll get cathine. in other words : too much hassle to bother with.
 
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