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Federal agents have arrested dozens of people in an effort to break up a smuggling ring responsible for most of the U.S. distribution of a leafy stimulant called khat, which shouldn't be confused with DPA staffer Megan Farrington's new husband, Ket. (Congratulations Megan and Ket!) The leafy stimulant khat is commonly used in East Africa and parts of the Arabian peninsula, but is illegal in the United States.

Bringing the plant -- which must be kept fresh -- to the United States was no small feat for the traffickers, the authorities said. They transported it from East Africa in suitcases with couriers or sent it in express-mail pouches and sold it in the United States to immigrants who were used to buying it in places like Yemen and Somalia for pennies.
The buyers were mostly from countries where khat is legal and a central part of social life, the authorities said. And while officials said that they had seen few new users trying the drug, they stressed that acting against the traffickers would forestall an increase in popularity here.
'We hope that khat never becomes a mainstream drug of choice,'' said John P. Gilbride, the special agent in charge of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency's New York office. He said the traffickers often shipped the drug through European countries where it is legal, including England.

Yeah, we sure wouldn't want some African drug replacing alcohol as America's drug of choice. As if that would ever happen. It must be nice to be Budweiser, Starbucks, and Phillip Morris. The government arrests their competitors. Good lord, can't immigrants continue using drugs from their home countries? Especially a drug that has been used for centuries and is legal in most of the world.
Via the New York Times (registration required). More on Khat here, here, here, and here.
Posted by Bill Piper.http://www.nooked.com/news/itemtrack...0cb0c466251fc2More...