Guess no COLA for SS is really hurting!

[MNeagle]

83-year-old arrested over 4-plus pounds of khat


Minneapolis police say they arrested an 83-year-old Hopkins man Thursday for having more than four pounds of the illegal drug khat, which they say he was selling out of the trunk of his car in south Minneapolis.

Khat [pronounced "cot"], an illegally imported plant popular with east Africans, has become an increasing problem for Minneapolis police, and the four pounds the man had was an unusually "huge amount," Minneapolis police Sgt. Steve McCarty said Friday. "The guy that's arrested is like 82 years old, and he's riding around with over four pounds."

A 20-year-old acquaintance of the man saw him operating out of the back of his car and called 911 to report it, McCarty said. The suspect was being held Friday in the Hennepin County Jail.

Khat is known to give users euphoria when chewed, McCarty said. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration classifies it as a Schedule I drug, or a substance with no medical or other legitimate use. "It's certainly a problem, and it's certainly illegal," McCarty said.

link (http://www.startribune.com/local/west/115322549.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUi D3aPc:_Yyc:aUac8HEaDiaMDCinchO7DU)

[Hatha Sunahara]

I'd like to know why it's a problem, and why it's illegal? Is the only legal intoxicant alcohol?

Do people who use khat make asses of themselves? Do they hurt anyone? Or does it just make them feel better and it's nobody's business.

Oh well, the law is the law, even if it is an ass.


Hatha

[Ponce]

That 20 year old has already recieved his training as to "How To Be A Stool Pigeon".......just wait till his 82 years old.........if he lives to be that old.

[MNeagle]

I'd like to know why it's a problem, and why it's illegal? Is the only legal intoxicant alcohol?

Do people who use khat make asses of themselves? Do they hurt anyone? Or does it just make them feel better and it's nobody's business.

Oh well, the law is the law, even if it is an ass.


Hatha


You'd have to google it I guess. They were demonizing the drug in the media locally years ago (along w/ the immigrants who wanted it), but I don't recall them ever reporting the effect it had on people.

My guess, they don't get their pound of flesh (a la taxes/stamps) /marketing, so it must be outlawed. Really though, I don't know.

[Hatha Sunahara]

Here is probably more than you want to know about Khat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khat

Was the old guy selling the stuff from Yemen or east Africa? If he's selling it, there are probably a lot of Yemenis, Ethiopians, Kenyans, Tanzanians in the neighborhood who would buy it. It's legal in Yemen. They use 40% of their agricultural water to grow it, and a huge portion of the population uses it.

I don't believe anything the WHO or the DEA says about it. In fact, my curiosity is piqued. The next time I go to that part of the world, I will be sure to try some. Sounds like it might be good stuff.


Hatha