2015年经济学人 东非禁毒可能适得其反（在线收听）

Banning the east African stimulant may backfire

OUTSIDE a newsagent's shop in the Clapham Road, a south London thoroughfare, a man sucks on a rolled-up cigarette and asks passers-by whether they want to buy some cannabis.

But shoppers seem more interested in khat, a mild narcotic popular with Ethiopians, Somalis and Yemenis.

Inside, the shopkeeper pulls out bundles of the yellowish leaf and explains that it is the last batch he will sell.

“After tomorrow, they stop, no more,” he says.

On June 24th the sale of khat was prohibited in Britain, almost a year after Theresa May, the home secretary, told the House of Commons that she intended to ban it.

The government argues that since the leaf has been banned elsewhere, Britain risks turning into a distribution point if it remains legal;

that khat is a dangerous intoxicant that harms its users and that the “marfashes” where men go to chew are breeding radicalism.

But both the government's advisory council on the misuse of drugs and the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee advised against the crackdown.

Unusually for a drug ban, prohibition seems likely to stop the use of khat.

Users must chew great wodges of the leaf, which loses its potency just a few days after being picked.

That makes it uneconomical to smuggle.

Unlike cannabis, khat cannot be grown easily in Britain.

Before the ban, loads were flown in from Africa and distributed from warehouses near Heathrow airport—in 2013 around 15m-worth ($25m) was imported from Kenya.

That trade is likely to dry up.

The broader effects of the ban are less clear.

Some Somalis and Ethiopians hope that khat-chewers will find something more productive to do with their time.

Supporters of the ban include women who complain that their husbands chew the leaf almost without ceasing.

The Home Office points to studies which suggest that the drug is associated with marital problems, poor attendance at work and financial stress.

Less happily, people may turn to other substances.

“Most people, they just chew it at weekends, chat, watch football,” says an Ethiopian waiter.

“I see these women on the TV saying that their husbands chew every day, and I think, your husband, he has no self-control.”

Most users will simply drink more coffee, he reckons.

But some won't. And other drugs are not difficult to find.