USE OF DRUG KHAT UP IN SOME CITIES

COLUMBUS, Ohio - An influx of immigrants from Somalia and other
African and Middle Eastern countries has led to increased use in some
U.S. cities of the illegal drug khat, a leaf that is chewed for its
amphetamine-like high, authorities say.

Khat has been seen in cities such as Detroit and New York since the
1980s. But it was virtually unknown in Columbus and Minneapolis until
the late 1990s, law enforcement authorities say.

Use of the drug appears to be confined largely to immigrant
communities, police in Columbus and Minneapolis say.

Khat has been illegal since 1993 in the United States. According to
the Drug Enforcement Administration, chronic use can cause violence
and suicidal depression similar to amphetamine addiction, though the
agency said it was unaware of any examples.

Khat has increased in prevalence in the past several years with an
influx of immigrants from countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya
and Yemen where khat is widely used, authorities say.

"What coffee is to Americans is what khat is for Somalis," said Omar
Jamal, executive manager of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St.
Paul, Minn. "The whole thing about khat being addictive is very
strange for Somalis. It's a completely different frame of thinking."

Community groups say their people are being targeted and are not aware
they are breaking the law. Police say they are confident immigrants
know khat is illegal.

Khat leaves contain cathinone, which is chemically similar to
amphetamine. The shiny, bright green or reddish-green leaves are sold
attached to thin, rhubarblike stems. A bundle of 15 to 35 sticks costs
about $40 in Columbus. Users often brew the leaves or stuff them into
their cheeks like chewing tobacco.

"Like what you would get from two or three beers _that little feeling
that lets people forget problems and troubles," said Ali Sharrif of
Toronto, who is from Somalia and said he used to chew khat in his
homeland. "It makes talking and communicating a lot more easier
somehow. You feel like you are suddenly very, very alert."

Most khat that makes its way to the United States comes from East
Africa, where it is a major export. Because khat's potency
dramatically drops after 48 hours, it usually is delivered by air
express or by courier, law enforcement officials say.

According to the DEA, the only known case of khat cultivation in the
United States was in 1998 in Salinas, Calif., where authorities seized
1,076 of the plants.

In Hennepin County, which includes the Minneapolis area, khat-related
charges have been filed against 10 to 20 people in the past year, said
Dan Rogan, spokesman for the county attorney's office. St.
Paul-Minneapolis has the nation's biggest Somali community, estimated
at up to 50,000 members.

In Columbus, where community groups estimate there are more than
30,000 Somalis in the second-biggest concentration in the United
States, police have seized 860 pounds of khat so far this year. Sgt.
Ben Casuccio said that in all of 2001, Columbus police seized 633
pounds. In 2000, they confiscated about 8 1/2 pounds.

The number of khat-related charges in Columbus was not available
because authorities do not classify charges by drug.

Nationally, DEA and Customs officials said they seized around 40 tons
in 2001, more than double the amount confiscated in 1996.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, possession of more than about 45
pounds of khat is punishable by up 16 months in prison.

New York police have made no arrests related to khat, Detective Walter
Burnes said. Police in Detroit did not immediately respond to a
request for numbers of khat arrests and seizures.

Jamal said Minneapolis police have pulled over young Somalis in search
of khat, which he considers racial profiling. DEA spokesman David
Jacobson in Detroit said no ethnic community is targeted.

"We need to take a proactive stance on khat because there's a negative
effect on the user and the family around them," he said.

Maryam Warsame, leader of the Somali Women's Association in Columbus,
said khat is to blame for the breakup of many marriages.

Men go off to use khat, and "it is the woman who has to stay with the
children, take care of the house," Warsame said. "And sometimes the
paycheck does not come home. They have to pay whoever is selling the
khat, instead of giving it to their family, to their children."