KHAT SEIZURES NOT WARRANTED, SOMALI COMMUNITY SAYS

Canada Customs heralded its latest seizure of the drug khat at Pearson
International Airport yesterday, even as local Somalis complained of
overzealous policing of the stimulant.

A few kilograms of heroin or cocaine are a significant seizure at
Pearson. Khat travels in much greater bulk. About seven kilograms of
cocaine have been seized since mid-May, compared with a whopping 700
kilograms of khat taken during the same period, most of it stuffed in
suitcases and cardboard boxes.

Less powerful and cheaper than other illicit drugs more familiar to
Canadians, khat is popular among members of Toronto's growing Somali
community, who tend to view it as more socially acceptable than alcohol.

Yesterday, men who often gather at a strip mall near Lawrence Avenue
and Weston Road said the problem is not with khat,but with the police
reaction to it.

"I don't consider myself a drug user. I abhor drugs," said Kawnayn
Hussein, who says he often takes khat in social settings. "We don't
consider it something like drugs. . . . It's a traditional thing, like
having coffee or a dinner."

The 30-year-old man, who has been in Canada for close to a decade,
said that people used to be able to chew khat leaves with impunity in
Canada. But that changed in 1997, when the stimulant was placed in the
Controlled Drug and Substance Act. Members of the Somali community say
police enforcement has become more stringent in recent months.

"We have no relationship with police at all," said Mr. Hussein, who
added that the broader Somali community feels "harassed" when officers
search for khat in homes and in the offices, prayer rooms and
restaurants of the strip mall.

Officers have also visited the strip mall's "club," where people watch
television, play pool or cards and talk, often over khat.

Last month, several people at the strip mall were pepper-sprayed in a
confrontation outside a restaurant, and two possession charges were
laid.

Not all in the community approve of the use of khat.

"The khat costs some money, so it's not good for the family," said
Mahad Ali, a 35-year-old editor of a community newspaper. But he added
the law-enforcment issue is separate from the drug issue.

"I'm against the behaviour of the Toronto police and how they behave
with this issue," he said, adding that there's a general sense that
the Somali community is being targeted.

The pungent plant smells something like old grass clippings. Users
chew the leaves of the catha edulis plant. They do not swallow the
substance.

Khat is grown in East Africa and is widely popular both in Somalia and
Yemen.

It is generally flown first to Britain, where it remains legal, before
travelling on to Canada. Along the way, the price of a kilogram
changes from $1, to $4, to $60, users say.

At Pearson, the plant is most often found on Thursdays and Fridays,
arriving just in time to satiate demand on the weekend.

A 1986 study by the World Health Organization found that although
severe medical problems are rare, khat was a "counter-productive and
potentially addictive" substance.

Yesterday, a city cab driver, who refused to give his name, said he
uses khat because beer gave him an ulcer and he tried marijuana a
couple of times, but found that he could not keep up conversations.
But he appreciates the clear-headed happy jolt that he says khat gives
him.

"I feel I'm a better driver when I chew," he said. "I won't feel the
stress, I won't feel the back pain."

The stimulant combines with heady optimism when he chews in group
settings, he said. "You talk about the future. You try to invent
things. . . . But when you come down, you really come down."