Elsevier

Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Volume 132, Issue 3, 1 December 2010, Pages 578-583
Journal of Ethnopharmacology

Ethnopharmacological Communication
Khat use and monitoring drug use in Europe: The current situation and issues for the future

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2010.04.046Get rights and content

Abstract

Aim of the study

To review the information available on the use of khat (Catha edulis) in the EU, and to assess the future use of this drug and related substances.

Material and methods

Khat is not controlled by international law and it has not been systematically included in the list of illicit drugs monitored in the EU. The current principal source of information on khat use in Europe is the early-warning system set up to monitor new and emerging drugs. Further information was obtained from official national reports to the EMCDDA and from the scientific literature.

Results

Across Europe, the use of khat is low. Khat use is limited to countries with immigrant communities from countries where khat use is common (such as Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya). Information on the prevalence of khat use in the general population is scarce. Data on seizures provide an insight on the situation, though these may be difficult to interpret. The most recent estimates suggest that Europe accounts for about 40% of the khat seized worldwide.

Conclusion

The shortage of data on the use and patterns of use of khat in Europe does not allow an evaluation of the needs for health and social interventions in communities in which the drug is used. But seizures of the plant are increasing in the EU, and more synthetic derivatives of the pharmacologically active ingredients of the plant (cathine and cathinone) are appearing on the market. Some of these, like mephedrone, have significant potential for future diffusion, and are likely to play a greater role on the European drug scene of the future.

Introduction

The Member States of the EU have made considerable progress in developing a common approach to monitoring patterns of illicit drug use, and this supports an increasingly consensus-driven drug policy debate (Bergeron and Griffiths, 2006). However, khat1 use sits awkwardly within the current reporting framework, and this hampers the production of a European-level analysis of the use of this drug. Why this is so, and what information is available at the European level, are the topics addressed in this paper. The analysis is extended to consider if the current evidence suggests that this drug, or synthetic variations of the psychoactive compounds it contains, are likely to play a greater role in the European drug scene of the future.

Section snippets

Khat and the European reporting framework

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), a decentralised technical agency of the European Union, is tasked with acting as a drug information hub for Europe. Its mission is to work closely with Member States to provide factual, objective, reliable and comparable information on the drug phenomenon. The agency commenced its monitoring activities around 1995, and today 30 countries – the 27 EU Member States, Norway, Turkey and Croatia – participate in the system,

Legal situation of khat in Europe

In the EU, the starting point for controlling psychoactive substances is the two UN treaties, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, which between them list nearly 250 substances to be controlled by all signatories under their national drug legislation. The psychoactive substances in khat, cathine and cathinone, are listed in Schedule III and Schedule I respectively of the 1971 convention; it follows that they are also therefore

Khat use

Two distinct groups of khat users exist in Europe. There is a growing interest in herbal and uncontrolled psychoactive substances among some young Europeans. This market is based around Internet suppliers as well as specialist shops found in some countries. Research into the availability of psychoactive substances on the Internet conducted by the EMCDDA has found that both khat and a range of synthetic cathinones are available to European consumers. While little is known about the scale of this

The chemistry of khat and its implications

Although khat can be ingested as an infusion or smoked, by far the most common route of administration is to chew the plant7. Fresh vegetable material (stems, leaves and leaf buds) is chewed and the juice of the masticated material is swallowed, while the residues are spat out. Typically, an individual consumes 100–200 g of khat leaves (1 bundle) in a session, and its effects last for several hours. The

Conclusions: khat use today in Europe and potential issues for the future

From a monitoring perspective, the information available on the use of substances like khat and more generally on patterns of substance use among minority populations in Europe remains inadequate. That said, examples of good practice do exist and a common feature of successful approaches, both in terms of research and service development, is that they are usually based on community engagement (Fountain et al., 2007). However, although excellent studies do exist, as well as some innovative

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank João Matias for his helpful contribution to the data analysis, Peter Fay for his comments on the text, and Michael Odenwald for his advice and support.

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