Crackdowns on Qat

The leaves of the shrub Catha Edulis, better known as qat, are a mild stimulant. Most readers have heard of the plant, even if they have never seen anyone chewing it. Though it is illegal here — as in many other countries — it is nonetheless smuggled into the Kingdom in large quantities. This is in addition to what is grown in some areas of the Kingdom’s south — specifically the Fifa mountains in Jizan province.

Crackdowns on qat are permanent and ongoing. Last year more than 5 million tons smuggled in from Yemen was seized by police. But that is thought to be just the tip of the iceberg. Far more than what is seized, as with most other drugs, gets through. As this paper has reported on several occasions, smuggling qat is big business; the street price for a bundle of qat leaves in Jeddah or Riyadh is said to be between SR170 and SR220 and dealers talk of making SR1,000 even on a bad day. Able to earn many times the income of an honest job, it is not surprising that some men turn to such illegal doings, encouraged perhaps by the fact that punishment is seemingly haphazard.

Smuggling narcotics can result in the death sentence but that is generally for harder drugs and may depend on quantities involved. Qat appears to be treated far less harshly; one dealer interviewed by this paper a couple of weeks ago said that although he had been arrested several times, the worst that had happened was four days in jail and then released on bail. Hardly a deterrent. It is difficult to see such leniency helping in the battle to eradicate the drug. Perhaps that is why despite regular anti-qat operations in Fifa and elsewhere and rewards of SR100 for every qat plant reported, elimination remains such a challenge.

This week it was announced that an intergovernmental committee on development in Jizan was working out, in addition to major infrastructural schemes to develop the region, further ideas to eradicate Qat production there. An excellent move, but clearly it will require serious investments of money, time and skills. For a start, a hundred riyals for every plant reported is not enough; qat production remains too profitable. That has to be both acknowledged and addressed.

What is also needed is an educational campaign to explain the dangers of qat to the public. The authorities ought to look at a report published this week in the UK by the Royal Society of Medicine which links coronary problems, liver damage and esophageal cancer to the drug; doctors at the Heart Hospital in London have attributed the heart attack suffered by a young Somali man to the use of qat. Not that everyone is unaware of the risks. In January we reported the story of a Yemeni farmer given an ultimatum by his bride-to-be: Plough up your qat plants or forget the marriage. Chewing qat, she said, was damaging his health. Happily, he chose her and replanted with fruit trees.

There clearly is some awareness of the dangers. Even so, a public campaign presenting the health risks should be considered. It would almost surely help in the fight against the drug.