THE WAR ON KHAT

Two recent reports -- the RCMP's annual public summary of the Drug
Situation in Canada and an intelligence document prepared for the
Integrated Threat Assessment Centre for counterterrorism -- make
prominent mention of khat, a stimulant plant traditionally chewed by
men in the Horn of Africa and the populated fringes of Arabia.
According to the former report, the Mounties seized a total of about
14,000 kilograms of the drug in 2006.

The language of the second report suggests that our counterterror
officials may be jumping the gun a little on this file. They admit
there is no evidence that revenues from khat trafficking are being
used for any nefarious geopolitical purpose. Their warning relies
instead on the conjectural assertion that since "much of the khat
trade occurs in ... a region of the world closely identified with
terrorism, it is possible that some parts of the proceeds involved may
end up in the hands of terrorists."

That is a weak linkage. Nonetheless, we expect it will be trumpeted by
those who advocate a strictly prohibitionist approach to drugs: It is
easier to defend tough drug policy if you can conflate it, however
vaguely, with the war on terror.

Khat contains cathinone, a mild amphetamine-like substance that is
outlawed in Canada and internationally. In Somalia, Kenya and nearby
areas, it has a cultural role analogous to coffee in our own world. In
inviting the users to Canada, we have effectively imported the
potential attendant harms of khat, which can probably be placed
somewhere between those of cocaine and marijuana on a scale of
severity. Meaningful interdiction is made difficult precisely by the
fact that the taste for khat is confined to a few close-knit ethnic
communities. The Mounties boast of a few big seizures at Pearson
Airport in Toronto, but the very audacity of these busted traffickers
suggests that shipments of a similar size must be getting through.

Meanwhile, it's noticeable that intercepting the drug, if it has any
effect at all, is likely to increase the expense -- which is cited as
one of its most negative social effects -- and creates the very profit
margin that would attract illegitimate traffickers. If we were really
concerned that the illegal khat trade was funding terrorism in
Somalia, wouldn't the sensible approach be legalization? Indeed, the
best alternative would be to have it grown here as a cash crop,
perhaps for export to Africa.

This is the paradox of any informed analysis of the link between drugs
and terror. As a matter of geography, the two tend to thrive together
- -- in places such as Afghanistan and Columbia, where lawlessness
produces safe havens for drug dealers and insurgents alike. But as the
analysis above shows, that doesn't mean waging war against the former
will inconvenience the latter. Just the opposite, in fact.

It's something to consider as we hear news about Canadian soldiers
being killed by poppy-financed Taliban militias. We can wage war
against drugs or terrorism. It's very hard -- some might say
impossible-- to do both.