A LIGHT BUZZ FOR SOMALIS, KHAT IS A HEAVY BUST HERE

Those who chew it call it a social lubricant that, like tea for the
British or beer for Americans, helps them unwind.

U.S. authorities say it's a mood-altering amphetamine.

Khat (pronounced cot), a leaf many Somalis chew like tobacco, has
become a target in America's war on drugs -- and a lesson in what
happens when a centuries-old tradition collides with modern-day
regulations.

"In Somalia, khat has been a normal part of life for centuries and is
very prevalent in virtually every household," said Mahdi Warsama, a
Somali community activist in Atlanta who has spoken out against khat
use. "So until they end up in court here, many Somalis have no idea
that khat is illegal."

Arrests are on the rise, with the U.S. Customs Service reporting a 46
percent increase nationwide in khat confiscation last year. More than
70,000 pounds were seized in 2000, compared with 48,000 in 1999.

Convictions for possession or distribution can mean a lengthy prison
sentence, deportation or both.

Somali elders in metro Atlanta estimate slightly fewer than 1,000 men
among the area's 9,000 Somalis chew khat. There is a stigma attached
to Somali women's chewing khat.

"The buzz from khat is no stronger than drinking a double espresso or
a couple of cans of Coke," said Omar Guleed, a Somali shopkeeper in
Decatur. "We'd rather chew khat than drink or do drugs."

But the Drug Enforcement Administration has a different view. "Khat
can induce manic behaviors and hyperactivity. Several cases of
khat-induced psychosis have been reported," said a DEA report.

The tender shoots are usually smuggled into the country, but in one
California case, it was grown on what amounted to a plantation.

The plant itself is not illegal. The prosecutions are for possession
of the amphetaminelike cathinone, one of the plant's chemical
components. State and federal laws classify cathinone as a Schedule I
controlled substance --- a category that includes Ecstasy, heroin and
LSD.

According to the DEA, cathinone is present in tiny amounts in khat
while it is growing. But within 72 hours of harvest, cathinone breaks
down rapidly to one-hundredth its original level, leaving a far milder
stimulant called cathine, a less potent Schedule IV drug.

Schedule IV substances pose a low potential for abuse and are often
used in treatment, according to the DEA. Cathine, for example, is
chemically similar to pseudoephedrine, which is used to relieve nasal
and sinus congestion.

"Police officers seizing 100 pounds of khat can claim they have seized
100 pounds of a Schedule I drug --- which looks spectacular on their
career drug records," said Sid Moore, an Atlanta attorney who has made
a specialty of defending khat cases.

But convictions for possession are rare.

A government expert in a khat case being tried in federal court in
Michigan this year --- the first federal case of its kind --- admitted
that despite 20 years of experience in forensic chemistry, he had
never heard of cathinone.

Defense lawyers have argued that if common vegetables that contain
controlled substances aren't banned, neither should khat. Morning
glory seeds, for example, contain lysergic acid, the principal
ingredient in LSD.

"The due process clause of the Fifth Amendment requires that the law
give a person of ordinary intelligence fair warning that what he's
about to do is forbidden," said Moore, who has won 21 khat acquittals
in a row, including seven in Georgia. "It's unreasonable to expect a
newly arrived immigrant to know that khat contains cathinone when even
the average chemist doesn't."

Immigrant advocates in the United States say education, not
incarceration, should be the way to deal with newcomers struggling to
decipher complicated legal rules.

Alison Renteln, whose research for an upcoming book, "The Cultural
Defense," found a nationwide increase in prosecutions for khat, said
harsh crackdowns can unfairly penalize immigrants.

"I think there's a cultural bias in America as to which drugs we
accept and which we don't," she said. "Why can people drink coffee and
not chew khat when both relax you?"

As reports of arrests mount, the use of khat among metro Atlanta
Somalis has declined or gone underground.

Community leaders such as Warsama have distributed educational
pamphlets or used radio programs to impress upon Somali men the legal
dangers of khat possession.

"A more serious worry is that khat users often spend well over half
their income on the drug, depriving their families of basic
necessities," said Warsama.

"They tell the men it's illegal, that it's bad for their health," said
Halima Kerlew, director of the Somali Refugee Family Foundation. "I
think the message is slowly sinking in."

Still, the practice persists.

"Trying to deprive a Somali of his khat," said Guleed, the shopkeeper
in Decatur, "is like trying to wean a Russian of his vodka or a
Japanese of his sake."