I spent many hours one long afternoon once in Sa'ana, Yemen,
chewing Qat until my jaw ached and was almost ready to fall off.
The narcotic effects were negligible, like having a a couple of cups of strong coffee.
I would advise those who are tempted to try this drug to stick to espresso.
It tastes better, is easier to imbibe and works faster.
From p. 47 of "The Hallucinogens", by A. Hoffer and H. Osmond, 1967,
Academic Press.
KHAT (KAT)
Because khat contains ephedrinelike compounds it seems best included
in this section [a setion on Amphetamines]. Lewin (1931) gave a brief
account of khat and how it was used. Apparently it was taken socially
to produce excitation, banish sleep, and promote communication. It was
used as a stimulant to dispel feelings of hunger and fatigue.
The natives chewed young buds and fresh leaves of catha edulis
(_Celastrus edulis_). This is a large shrub which can grow to tree
size. It originated in Ethiopia and spread until its use covered Kenya,
Nyasaland [now Malawi], Uganda, Tanganyika [now Tanzania], Arabia, the
Congo, Rhodesia [now Zimbabwe and Zambia], and South Africa. The khat
trees are grown interspersed between coffee trees.
Khat was used in Yemen even before coffee and it was immensely
popular. Lewin described khat markets to which khat was brought in
bundles of branches from the mountains.
Khat contains cathine (d-norisoephedrine), cathidine, and cathinine.
Cathine is also one of the alkaloids found in _Ephedra vulgaris_. It is
fortunate, perhaps, that khat is also very rich in ascorbic acid which
is an excellent antidote to amphetamine-type compounds.
In animals, khat produces excitation and increased motor activity. In
humans, it is a stimulant producing a feeling of exaltation, a feeling of
being liberated from space and time. It may produce extreme loquacity,
inane laughing, and eventually semicoma. It may also be an euphorient
and used chronically can lead to a form of delirium tremens. Galkin
and Mironychev (1964) reported that up to 80% of the adult population
of Yemen use khat. Upon first chewing khat, the initial effects were
unpleasant and included dizziness, lassitude, tachycardia, and sometimes
epigastric pain. Gradually more pleasant feelings replaced these
inaugural symptoms. The subjects had feelings of bliss, clarity of
thought, and became euphoric and overly energetic. Sometimes khat
produced depression, sleepiness, and then deep sleep. The chronic user
tended to be euphoric continually. In rare cases the subjects became
aggressive and overexcited. Galkin and his colleague observed 51
subjects who had taken khat. Of these, 27 became excited, 18 became
somnolent, and 6 remained unchanged. The respiratory rate and pulse
rate were accelerated and the blood pressure tended to rise. The
subjects also had a decrease in the functional capacity of the
cardiovascular system.
Other than that, I got nuthin'