Penniless, starving and at the mercy of marauding armed gangs: Appalling
fate of Yemen and Somalia's khat addicts revealed
* Khat is a narcotic leaf that induces mild euphoria popular in
Somalia, Yemen and Ethiopia among others
* Drug was reclassified as Class C in the UK and banned in a ruling
that came into effect last June
* There are an estimated 20 million khat addicts across the Horn of
Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
* Mental illnesses, mouth and heart disease and gang violence are all
problems linked to khat use
By
<
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Ruth+Styles+for+
MailOnline> Ruth Styles for MailOnline
Published: 15:47 GMT, 19 October 2014 | Updated: 16:36 GMT, 19 October 2014
Fresh, green and innocent-looking, the neatly tied bunches of khat found in
markets across the Horn of Africa look far from dangerous. But, as these
photographs reveal, that is exactly what they are.
Banned in the UK earlier this year, khat, a narcotic green leaf which
produces a sense of euphoria in users, is a common sight on the streets of
Yemeni capital Sana'a as well as other cities in the region.
But with side-effects that include mouth disease, tooth loss and, in some
cases, mental illness, the drug takes a terrible toll on addicts, which in
some cases, include children as young as six years old. ......
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Berhane Habtemariam
Received on Sun Oct 19 2014 - 17:06:10 EDT