QAT ADDICTS BARRED FROM U.S.

The U.S. embassy in Sana'a said on Sunday that it will prohibit
Yemenis who are addicted to qat from entering the United States as
immigrants.

The embassy considers qat, a mildly narcotic plant chewed regularly
by many Yemenis, to be an illegal drug, a diplomat at the embassy
told the Yemen Observer. The embassy has also issued a ban on its
staff in Yemen from using the substance.

Immigrant visa applicants should prove they have stopped using qat at
least three years prior to their application if they want to be
eligible, the source said.

This step will not be applied to those who go to the U.S. merely as
tourists, it applies to immigrants only, the source said.

"Qat has two chemical components, legally defined as drugs by the
U.S. Center for Disease Control and the U.S. Controlled Substances
Act; cathine and cathinone," the source said.

"Cathine is a Schedule IV drug and cathinone is a Schedule I drug.
Schedule I drugs are considered to have a high potential for abuse
and currently have no accepted medical uses". Abuse of Schedule I
drugs is considered a "Class A" medical ineligibility under the
Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

So, the source said, applicants for immigrant visas who are medically
found to have used a Schedule I drug beyond simple experimentation
(i.e. a single use), must be found ineligible for a visa.

Former users of qat who can medically prove that they have not used
qat for at least three years may be found to have a "Class B" medical
condition.

According the INA, "sustained, full remission of addiction or abuse
of specific substances" reduces the Class A medical ineligibility to
a Class B medical condition, which does not render the applicant
ineligible for an immigrant visa.