It
is midday and the heat is in full effect as I enter Nanyuki, a small town in
the Kenyan central highlands. I arrived in this place via the most
uncomfortable way possible – a matatu crammed
with about 20 Kenyans sitting wherever (and on whomever) they could. Despite
the uncomfortable ride, you can’t beat paying 50 KSh to hitch a ride to an
adjacent city no matter what country you’re in. These highlands are surrounding
Africa’s second highest peak and the mountain for which the country is named –
Mount Kenya, rising up 5199 meters above sea level, is the only place in the
world on the equator that has snow and ice blanketing it. The lush green hills
and forests are interspersed with crops and farm land in these highlands and
are not exactly what most people think when they think of the quintessential
“African” landscape. The dry, searing desserts to the north and the Great
Plains to the south seem to fit the bill more. But this too is East Africa, as
trucks zoom past day and night without regard for law or courtesy to deliver
their payload to nearby markets. What is their payload? It is a plant, Catha edulis to be more precise. Known
as miraa in Kenya, or more commonly khat, the plant is extremely popular
among the general public (some would say a staple, but that is a stretch). I
knew relatively little about this celebrity and set out to the nearby market to
retrieve some for myself.
When
I arrived, the smells of barbequed corn and goat was in the air; bananas,
avocados, chickens bound together, various pieces of meat and other staples of
a normal diet were assorted on dirty tables left out in the sun and various
would be customers pawed at them from time to time. The Western side of me was
a little perturbed however, the “I don’t care I am in another country” side of
me was excited at all the cheap fruits and meat both alive and dead. As I
walked through the market eating my newly acquired corn I asked various vendors
if they had miraa. The reactions I got were mixed but could general be summed
up as “What?” or “Not here other place.” I was shocked, because everyone I
asked had a visible wad in their cheek. I left the market a little off put and
bewildered wondering if it was because I am a mzungu that they didn’t sell to me or because they couldn’t understand
my Canadian accent. I wandered the town ignoring beggars, chanters and salesmen
as they came up. And eventually I came to a small wooden enclosure with no sign
that a truck was parked next to unloading. As I got closer I noticed this
ragged, red wooden box looked a lot like a kid’s lemonade stand. Sure enough
this is where I was able to buy miraa for the first time; 40 Ksh for a small
bundle wrapped in a banana leaf. I thanked the man as he smiled and said
something along the lines of “enjoy this wondrous plant!” I took off down the
road on foot to a camel camp I had read about, with excitement in hand.
Catha edulis
was a plant garnishing a lot of attention in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian
Peninsula (and also within me as well).
But what exactly is it? Well to put it simply, it is a small shrub or
tree that grows in well drained, rocky soil and is harvested for its light red
juvenile stems that are chewed for its stimulating and euphoric effects. Being an evergreen, it does not lose its
leaves throughout the year and is a dicot that produces small dry fruits that
dehisce to release 2 or 3 winged seeds that land and sprout. The mother tree
can also send out roots that grow into new, genetically identical plants that
can produce seeds before maturity (which is extremely helpful in spreading
offspring as far as you can, since the plant is so slow growing). Kenya is one
of the top producers of C. edulis,
and giant fields are able to be grown through asexual propagation via cutting
(which is also the way people manage to grow them in countries that the plant
is illegal).
The
euphoric and stimulating effects described as “godly” by many Kenyan locals can
scientifically explain by two alkaloids contained in the stems: cathine and
cathionine. These are amphetamine-like substances that cause a general sense of
wellbeing, stimulation, appetite suppression, and excitement (perfect for labours
and farmers working long hours for low pay). Due to its amphetamine-like
substances and effects, the World Health Organization (WHO) dubbed the plant a
drug of abuse in 1980, leaving approximately 10 million chewers worldwide
scratching their heads. In comparison with other drugs of abuse, miraa seems to
be one of the least harmful and dependence forming and infact has been noted to
relieve the symptoms of asthma, diabetes and intestinal or stomach tract
disorders. On the flip side, it does have negative consequences: A study done
to determine reaction times and cognitive flexibility between Khat users and
non-khat users shows that the accuracy was much lower across all of the tests,
and the error rate higher in the khat users. The results suggest that recreational
use is associated with impaired cognitive flexibility, which is found to be
similar to long-term amphetamine and methamphetamine use. Another study
conducted showed that while chewing, a significant and progressive rise in both
systolic and diastolic blood pressure can be observed. Originally I thought
these trucks rocketing down dusty roads were doing so because people just
couldn’t wait to get another shipment; however there is a scientific
explanation for this manic driving as well. When picked, the stems must be
consumed within 72 hours due to acute degradation of cathine and cathonine.
This means if you chew an old plant, you will get nothing other than a bitter
taste in your mouth and the regret of having wasted money on a defunct plant.
I
arrived in the camel camp about an hour after leaving Nanyuki. There was no
sign on the road stating there may be anything down the side dirt road besides
a ribbon and an old fig tree. I wandered down the winding road, avoiding the
ducks at all costs (I was attacked by farm ducks about a week prior, leading me
to believe they were the most dangerous animals in the country). I eventually
came to a stone rotunda with a camel skeleton imprinted on the side and was
greeted by two very cheery Kenyans. They showed me around and explained a bit
about their camp, how they hand built the grass huts and the tree house on the
river. These men were from the Somali tribe of Northern Kenya, and spent most
of their life living a nomadic existence.
They just recently settled down (although they would still walk up to
60kms in a day to retrieve camels for mzungu
to ride for enjoyment). I got settled in my grass hut and soon realised I
was not alone in the small hut; a family of shrews lived in the wooden frame
right above my bed. As evening came I went out to meet the nomads for tea and
dinner. The camel milk chai was the best I’ve had thus far in the country, the
camel milks sweetness really made the tea great. After dinner I noticed that
the nomads were chewing miraa and I pulled out my banana leaf parcel and began
to join them. They told me exactly what I needed to know: chew some stems and leaves and push it
towards your cheek, keep chewing more and more as the wad gets ground and
crushed, chewing gum will help with the bitterness and dry mouth, and to not
swallow your chewed ball. I kept chewing and drinking with the nomads just
chatting about everything that came to mind.
After
a lot of chewing and stems it finally started to kick in. I was alert, excited
and above all extremely talkative. I was living the Kenyan motto of Hakuna matata. We talked about
everything around a glowing fire: life, death, work, Canada, Kenya. The night
wore on and a big man dressed in camouflage emerged out of the night
brandishing an assault rifle. The big man pulled up a seat and pulled up a few
banana leaf clad bushels, all the while I had my gaze glued to the assault
rifle. I was transfixed on the gun, not afraid just interested in it (the miraa
and beer probably helped with that).The man broke the silence laughed and
passed more miraa around the circle. He happened to be a friend of the nomads
and was on break from his guard duty at a nearby manor. The night wore on, and
the laughing and talks went long into the night until we eventually retired to
our huts. The shrews were still playing above my bed as I lay down for the
night in the rickety hut.
Morning
came after a few hours of tossing and turning and we met for breakfast. Shortly
after, chewing began again and this time lasted for more or less every waking
hour of the weekend. I helped tidy up and take care of the bastard ducks and
stray dogs, walked with them and tried to do as much as I could. When Sunday
finally rolled around, it was time for me and the stationary nomads to part
ways. They had to begin a long trek through the Kenyan landscape to get camels
for a British family who wanted to ride camels on Monday. The nomads made their
business in camels and their non-stop work ethic was fueled by miraa. We said
our goodbyes and parted ways, me to Naro Moru for construction and them back to
their camel slinging duty. I left with a new found respect for the plant, the
habit, the pastime of a country, and wonderful memories with two new friends:
Joseph and James.
To
this day some of the most important conversations I’ve had took place around
that camps fire, fuelled by miraa. Conversations that I will never forget, that
humble me and allow me to look at things in a different light. Catha
edulis is a drug. It is a habit. It is harmful. It is a culturally significant
pastime. Why something like this is illegal in North America is understood: It
contains two banned alkaloids that can cause direct or indirect harm to a user.
It is not native to North America; it was brought here due to initial curiosity
and an influx of immigration from the countries where it has a cultural
stronghold. On the flipside, it is just as easy to see why it is not banned in
countries such as Kenya, Yemen, and Ethiopia. It has been used since the 6th
century, approximately 600 years before coffee in the area and has become a
large part of the culture and society in these countries. It gives farmers,
labours, and nomads a boost to work hard jobs for long hours to make $10 a week
for their family, it gives them something to sit down and enjoy, it gives them
life. And sometimes that is more important than if something may or may not
shorten your life by a few years.
My
experience with miraa was a good one. I regret nothing and even chewed
periodically throughout the rest of my time there. It definitely gave me more
energy made construction work much more enjoyable. Catha edulis is a plant with quite a reputation and it is well
deserved from both opposing and supporting parties. It has scientific backing
for negative side effects and even a few positive ones, but in comparison with
other WHO dubbed drugs of abuse it looks like a saint. Culturally, the drug is
important to where it is natively found, much like Kava in Vanuatu, Ayahuasca
to Amazon tribes, or Peyote to the people of the Chihuahuan desert area. The magnificence of plants can be seen all
over the world. Cures and poisons, hallucinogens and stimulants, food and
drink. Plants hold keys to all things humans seek and require to have a grand
and sustained existence.
Matatu
– Mini
bus
Mzungu
–
Person of foreign descent
Hakuna
Matata – No worries
Works
Cited
¥ Abdel-Kader
ZY, Adbo-Rabbo AA, Al-Mansoob MAK, Awad AY, Gunaid AA, Hassan NAGM. 2000. The
effect of Qat chewing on blood pressure and heart rate in healthy volunteers.
Tropical Doctor 30:2 – 107-108.
¥ Al-Hebshit
N and Skaug N. 2005. Khat (Catha
edulis) – an updated review. Addiction Biology. 10 299-307
¥ Colzato
LS, Hommel B, Ruiz MJ and van den Wildenberg W. 2011. Khat Use Is
Associated with Impaired Working Memory and Cognitive Flexibility. PLoS ONE.
6:6 article e20602.
¥ Klein
A and Metaal P. 2010. A good chew or good riddance-How to move forward in the
regulation of khat consumption. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 132:3 584-589.
¥ Nutt,
D., King, L., Saulsbury, W., Blakemore, C., 2007. Development of a rational
scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse. The Lancet 364, 1047–
1053
¥ The
Vaults of Erowid <http://www.erowid.org/plants/khat/khat_timeline.php>
Accessed February 11th 2012
¥ Wikipedia
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khat> Accessed February 11th
2012
