Khat to be banned

[Gilly]

So I've just watched a piece on khat and the plan to ban it over the next few days.

It doesn't appear to be harmful. It doesn't appear to directly cause any health problems at all. In fact, the only reason given is that it acts as a stimulant much like caffeine, and some Somali men chew it all night and sleep all day instead of going out to work and the women affected don't like it.

Surely, ban it, they will simply find something else? It's not khat that is the problem, it is the individual.

Does anyone know different? Is it harmful, and the news piece misleading?

 

[Gilly]

Sorry about that, I thought I had missed something and expected people to know more about it than I.

The point is not really about what is being banned but the reason for it. Some of the Somali women don't like it, and that's about it.

 

[Gilly]

Well it ain't British so why we allowing it

What the hell does that have to do with it?

Replace khat with various illegal recreational drugs in that sentence, perhaps?

Ones that we know have health issues?

 

[Gilly]

Well Professor Nutt (ex-head of the Advisory Council on the Mis-use of Drugs) feels it's no more harmful than coffee and the reason it was banned over here was pressure from the US, where they banned it a while ago (due to one of the constituent drugs of the plant, cathinone, being on their controlled substance list) and because it was still freely available over here, we were a smuggling transit.

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/the-khat-ban-is-harmful-and-pointless

Ah, that makes a bit more sense.

No less worrying that we've banned it because another country doesn't like it, but at least there is a reason.

 

[Gilly]

No, not at all worse than alcohol.

My point is there are some substances that are banned. There are some that are not. To change the way the substance is dealt with now should have overwhelming reasons the other way to change it. Whether that be banned to unbanned or unbanned to banned.

I don't think a sewing circle should have the power to ban something, and nor should an entirely different country.

I think controlling khat in this manner is entirely unnecessary.

 

[Gilly]

So effectively their version of coffee.

Yes, exactly this.

 

[Gilly]

I'm really not bothered if they ban it I mean who wants to sit there chewing leaves like a cow for hours on end. What is the big deal anyway ?

The point is not as to whether you mind this one thing being banned, but whether you are at all bothered that anything gets banned for such an arbitrary reason.

 

[Gilly]

I personally find it a very antisocial thing

You find the fact that they visit places solely to chew this 'cud' together and talk antisocial?

 

[Gilly]

Not what I said but feel free to read into it whatever you want.

You said you find it antisocial, I pointed out the very social element. What issue do you take with this?

 

[Gilly]

This may come as a shock to you Gilly but things can be antisocial even if they are done in the company of others. Funny that isn't it.

Whilst this is a truism, if they are coming together in order to partake and spend time together it means that, in that scenario, it's very much not antisocial.

It seems that what you mean by antisocial is that you just don't like it. Amirite?

 

[Gilly]

gilly is a user or ~?

Is that even a question?

 

[Gilly]

 

[Gilly]

You don't need to eat sugar to survive.

 

[Gilly]

They are welcome to use it back where they come from just not here.

Simple isn't it.

Well, no, it's not simple and it's not true either, yet

 

[Gilly]

Oh,and I do not believe that health concerns should really play into this debate,quite simply because it's people's responsibility to treat their Mind and Body right...

We need to have a say because public money is used to treat those individuals that encounter problems through substance abuse.

 

[Gilly]

It is already being used.

Hence my saying 'is used'. What did your post add?