Pubdate: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 Date: 09/27/1998 Source: Toronto Star (Canada) Author: Dave Haans Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n771.a06.html Re Feeble law hasn't stopped trade in khat (Sept 6). Farah Jacma writes an interesting and perceptive letter, stating that "many more (khat) shops are opening and business is flourishing," despite khat being declared illegal under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. What is happening is something we have seen before in Canada. A relatively harmless substance (khat is a mild stimulant, used socially in much the same way as coffee), is prohibited, immediately creating a black market in its trade. Rather than selling for $7, as Farah Jacma points out, its price jumps to $70, creating massive profits for anyone, including Somali warlords, who want to traffic in it. One only wonders when (there is no if, unfortunately) khat's active ingredient, cathinone, will be extracted from the khat leaf, smuggled into Canada, and sold to anyone with a few bucks, children included. Profits for drug and war lords will increase exponentially and more insidious versions of the drug will be manufactured (witness crack cocaine). The government, having completely abdicated its responsibility for the control of the substance, will be left to pick up the pieces, just like they now have to do with cocaine and heroin and the prohibition-related problems revolving around those substances. Farah Jacma suggests that more enforcement of the law might alleviate the situation. However, it is clear that the law itself causes the problem in the first place. Placing drugs in the control of the drug lords hasn't worked, ever, in any society. Jacma hits the nail on the head, though, when he suggests that khat might be regulated and taxed. This would place the substance once again in the control of the government, which can do a much more responsible job of controlling it than drug lords. Dave Haans, Toronto