New clause 1 - Inclusion of khat as a Class A drug
Drugs Bill
4:45 pm
Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Shadow Minister, Home Affairs; Chesham and Amersham, Conservative)
New clause 1 has been referred to in anticipation of reaching it because it seeks to focus the Minister's mind on the classification of khat, which contains cathinone or cathine. Khat is a green-leaf shrub that has been chewed for a long time by people who live in the Horn of Africa on the Arabian peninsula, but unfortunately it has recently turned up in Europe, including in the UK. It has been particularly prevalent among immigrants and refugees from countries such as Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen. Khat is imported and sold at greengrocers in areas such as east London in a very similar way to magic mushrooms. It sells at about £4 a bunch, but remains potent for only a few days after it is picked. It is strongest when the fresh leaves are chewed, but it can also be made into a tea or chewable paste.
The khat plant is not controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, but its active ingredients, cathinone and cathine, are class C drugs—a condition that is similar to magic mushrooms. Cathinone may not lawfully be possessed or supplied except under licence for research, although cathine may be prescribed.
Khat is illegal in America, Canada, Norway and Sweden, and I understand that it was controlled in Tanzania, Kenya and Somalia. It is a stimulant drug with effects similar to those of amphetamines. Chewing it makes people talkative, suppresses their appetite, and can cause insomnia, anorexia and anxiety. It makes people irritable, angry and possibly violent, and if hon. Members have time to cruise the internet, like the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland, there are horrible stories about domestic violence being brought on by it. I am aware of the Government's measures to relieve domestic violence problems in this country. Psychological dependence can also result from regular use of the drug, and users become hooked and get very depressed and low if they do not use it.
Reports among the Yemeni population indicate that khat is consumed by three in four Yemenis. In Yemen, fairly accurate research shows that khat use accounts for more than 40 per cent. of the average family budget, which is an alarming statistic, especially as chronic khat abuse results in all the symptoms of amphetamine addiction. It also results in hypertension and gastric disorders, which cost our national health service more and more. We also export it. There are real problems, because I understand that some 18 tonnesof it were seized on flights from the UK to the US in 1998, which is the last time for which I could find figures available.
I know from the Minister's earlier answer that the Government have no plans to control khat at the moment, but that the advisory council is keeping its legal status under review. I understood that the Home Office's drugs and alcohol research unit was to embark on a detailed study to assess the level of harm caused by khat. It was expected that the final report would be completed in September 2004, with the interim findings being available in April 2004. I hope the Minister will give us the progress of that, because I have not seen that report, and I am not aware whether the promise made in her answer of 8 September 2003 was actually kept. The reference is the answer to Question 127515 at column 60W. Apparently, this report was going to inform future decisions on whether khat would be controlled. It is absolutely correct that khat misuse is part of a wider diversity issue. I would have hoped, however, that, having made that promise, the Minister would come to this Committee and tell us exactly what the Government are going to do about it.
New clause 4 is familiar ground for the Minister, and I think we have been around the houses on this debate several times. I am sure that she is not going to agree with me, but it is the classification of cannabis. Back in October 2001, the previous Home Secretary, who has had to step down, announced the change to the classification of cannabis when he was giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee. He had to go through the hoop that required him to consult the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, and he was going to look at the results of the so-called Lambeth experiment, which, if the hon. Member for Southwark, North and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) is anything to go by, was nothing but a complete and utter disaster.
Despite the adverse results from the Lambeth experiment, cannabis was reclassified in January 2004. The message went out, up and down the country, that the Government believed that we should not tolerate cannabis. At best, it was tolerance of possession and dealing, and at worst it was that the taking of it was legal. There is no point in the Minister pretending otherwise. I have even had children say to my face that taking cannabis is legal. The confusion was, I suppose, accepted by the Minister, because she had to spend £1 million of taxpayers' money on a campaign to try to clarify the situation, solving the problem of public confusion on the legality of cannabis.
The cursory evaluation of the campaign said that a survey of a representative sample of 14 to 70 year olds showed that 81 per cent. agreed that smoking cannabis was harmful. Although those results were evaluated for a campaign on or around 17 May 2004, even if we just start to cruise the internet and pick up the odd article, we will find that—[Interruption.]