Adrian Fenty Fights the Menace of Alert Cabdrivers

Jacob Sullum | June 5, 2009

The Drug War Chronicle reports that the D.C. Council is considering a proposal by Mayor Adrian Fenty to increase penalties for possession of khat, a stimulant plant popular among District residents from East Africa. Under federal law, fresh khat is treated as a Schedule I drug because it contains cathinone, a stimulant in the same legal category as heroin, LSD, and marijuana. Since the cathinone degrades after harvest, older khat, containing only the milder stimulant cathine, is a Schedule IV drug, in the same category as Valium and Xanax. But under D.C. law khat, fresh or not, is always a Schedule IV drug, a designation that police feel does not treat the plant with sufficient gravity. As one detective puts it, "Why lock them up when you get a slap on the wrist for a Schedule IV that the attorney's office does not want to prosecute?" Fenty's proposal, which the D.C. Council is expected to approve or reject by July 15, would make fresh khat a Schedule I drug under local law, so that possessing it would be a felony.

And what is the nature of the menace that Fenty is fighting? The Washington Times reports that he wants to crack down on khat because "authorities suspect [it] is used by cabdrivers in the city to stay alert and to finance terrorism overseas." As The Drug War Chronicle explains, it's not the cabdrivers who are suspected of financing terrorism; rather, police speculate, without any real evidence, that money from the khat trade might end up in the hands of terrorists. Even if that's true, it's a problem caused by prohibition, which created the black market that may (or may not) benefit terrorists, not with khat itself. So we are left with the fear that cabdrivers use khat to "stay alert"; apparently Fenty prefers his cabdrivers sleepy and distracted.

Khat, which is legal and socially acceptable in countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen, is a glaring example of how readily Americans criminalize other people's drugs. "For hundreds, if not thousands, of years, residents of the Horn of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula have partaken of khat," The Drug War Chronicle notes. "When the fresh leaves of the plant are chewed, they produce a mild stimulating effect. Friends of the plant liken the high to the buzz achieved from drinking strong coffee; foes, typically in law enforcement, are more apt to liken it to an amphetamine high." This is the basis for the legal crusade against khat: not the drug's actual effects, whether harmful or beneficial, but a tendentious, inflammatory description of another culture's customs. Such is the pattern of drug policy in America, from opium in the 19th century to Salvia divinorum today.

More on khat here.

Comments

|6.5.09 @ 11:57AM|#

"Khat, which is legal and socially acceptable in countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen"

So is beating your wife.

Abdul|6.5.09 @ 12:01PM|#

PJ O'Rourke got gooned up on khat for his book, "All the trouble in the world." It does sound like something you don't want your taxi driver doing while on duty.

|6.5.09 @ 12:07PM|#

"Why lock them up when you get a slap on the wrist for a Schedule IV that the attorney's office does not want to prosecute?"

The detective sure does mean that sentence differently than I do.

|6.5.09 @ 12:07PM|#

As one detective puts it, "Why lock them up . . . .

Why, indeed.

|6.5.09 @ 12:08PM|#

Damn you, FrBunny! Damn you to hell!

I bet your superior posting speed comes from being hopped up on khat!

|6.5.09 @ 12:19PM|#

legal and socially acceptable in countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen.

These are great countries. We should strive to emulate them.

|6.5.09 @ 12:24PM|#

In all seriousness, is anything illegal in a country with no government?

|6.5.09 @ 12:25PM|#

These are great countries. We should strive to emulate them.

Yes, because not criminalizing a stimulant is the same as emulating all parts of another culture. Douchebag says what?

|6.5.09 @ 12:29PM|#

What?

|6.5.09 @ 12:32PM|#

Wha...wait a second.

|6.5.09 @ 12:37PM|#

Yes, because not criminalizing a stimulant is the same as emulating all parts of another culture. Douchebag says what?

Epi, I agree that criminalizing khat is pure stupidity. The countries Jacob mentions, however, are not likely to give warm fuzzies to anyone you try to convince with that argument.

"Legalizing khat is fucking retarded! It's simply a mild stimulant, for fuck's sake! Also, it's totally acceptable and legal in Somalia!"

"Wait, do you mean the Somalia where pirates come from? That dirt-poor country that's a violent, festering shithole of despair and death?"

"Yeah!"

"Uh, okay..." *runs off to vote for khat criminalization bill*

You can't count on everyone being intelligent and open-minded, unfortunately. Especially in comment threads on H&R.

the innominate one|6.5.09 @ 12:39PM|#

Why don't they just drink a caffeinated beverage, like real 'murikans do?

is it because they're terroislamocommofascists?

|6.5.09 @ 12:43PM|#

"In all seriousness, is anything illegal in a country with no government?"

I'd consider, say, drinking illegal in these places if the local religious constabulary were going to stone me to death for doing so.

Stephen Smith|6.5.09 @ 1:17PM|#

Two things:

1. It's hard to say what's "legal" in Somalia given the utter lack of central government, but the Shabab (the Islamic militia that rose to some semblance of power as a blacklast against the US-supported Ethiopian invastion) has banned khat in some places, at some point.
2. For more on the economics of khat prohibition in the West, see the aforelinked article I wrote.

Fluffy|6.5.09 @ 1:21PM|#

I think it's safe to say that we're very lucky that the use of coffee established itself in the West before banning every mild stimulant that is in any way associated with people of color became the American way.

Coffee was originally Ethiopian, also. "Ethiopia is a horrible place, of course we should ban this strange drink they make by grinding the beans of this illicit plant."

And PJ O'Rourke's experience is not necessarily definitive. Give a Mormon who has never had a cup of coffee his first cup, and he might describe the experience as odd too.

|6.5.09 @ 1:25PM|#

It's hard to say what's "legal" in Somalia given the utter lack of central government, but the Shabab (the Islamic militia that rose to some semblance of power as a blacklast against the US-supported Ethiopian invastion) has banned khat in some places, at some point.

So, the DC Council is following the lead of a Somali Islamic militia?

|6.5.09 @ 1:27PM|#

The Washington Times reports that he wants to crack down on khat because "authorities suspect [it] is used by cabdrivers in the city to stay alert and to finance terrorism overseas."

ROFL So what are you sayn'? These furrin cabbies are chewing khat so they can work twenty hour days, thus earning an extra fifty for the cause?

I am so into myself!|6.5.09 @ 1:49PM|#

"These furrin cabbies are chewing khat so they can work twenty hour days, thus earning an extra fifty for the cause?"

God damned animals.

proud libitard|6.5.09 @ 1:53PM|#

ZOMG, the darkies are enjoying themselves...BAN IT!!!!1!1!

|6.5.09 @ 2:35PM|#

This is the basis for the legal crusade against khat: not the drug's actual effects, whether harmful or beneficial, but a tendentious, inflammatory description of another culture's customs. Such is the pattern of drug policy in America, from opium in the 19th century to Salvia divinorum today.

Time for some Harry J. Anslinger quotes. He was a bigoted asshole but at least gets credit for unbridled candor.

"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others."

"...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races."

"Reefer makes darkies think they're as good as white men."

JB|6.5.09 @ 2:36PM|#

People always want to control other people. I was talking to a Democrat, a blue collar middle of the road guy, and a conservative the other day at the bar and all of them thought it was ok to control people and ban certain drugs.

People want freedom for themselves while having other people chained up. Generally you can't reason with these people or convince them. The best option is to tell them to go fuck themselves and their control-freak attitudes. Freedom-loving people are going to have to vote with their feet and weaponry.

|6.7.09 @ 8:53AM|#

So they are going to ban another substance? I should look into expanding my offerings beyond the normal methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana.

Bruno Marchal|6.8.09 @ 6:49AM|#

Prohibition is harmful. All drugs should be made legaL Those which are non addictive and harmless, like Cannabis, Magic Mushrooms and Salvia Divinorum, which is impressive but not dangerous, should be sold in the supermarket. Those which are addictive and dangerous should be sold with medical prescription. That would be the most healthy decision, both for the mind and the body. Besides, we will NEVER win the war against terrorism without stopping completely the prohibition of drugs.