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Bundles of the drug qat
Bundles of the drug qat, which is legal in Britain Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian
Bundles of the drug qat, which is legal in Britain Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian

Drugs advisory group decides against banning qat in UK

This article is more than 11 years old
Home Office-commissioned report finds no evidence of links to organised crime or Somalia's al-Shabab Islamist group

A clash between the home secretary, Theresa May, and her expert drugs advisory group is looming after it decided against banning qat, a mild herbal stimulant, traditionally used in Britain's Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs said there was insufficient evidence that Qat caused health or wider societal problems to justify a ban in Britain. The expert advisers also said they found no evidence that the qat trade was directly linked to serious or organised crime or used to fund the al-Shabab Islamist group.

The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that Home Office ministers were prepared to ignore the ACMD's recommendation and set up their own departmental investigation into links with the funding of terrorism and claims that young British Muslims were being recruited in legal qat rooms to fight alongside militants in Somalia.

The last major clash between the home secretary and the official drug advisers over the classification of ecstasy and cannabis led to the sacking of its then chairman, Professor David Nutt.

The advisory group's current chairman, Professor Les Ivesen, said the researchers were aware of the rumour about the alleged link between the trade in qat and al-Shabab, but found no evidence. He said the Serious Organised Crime Agency and UK Border Force had both "drawn a complete blank" when pressed on the issue.

"We pay no credence to this idea. We think it is a nasty little rumour going about," he said.

The report said that as a legal drug qat was a low value substance attracting very little profit in the British market.

The ACMD said its Home Office-commissioned report into the use of Qat in Britain was the most comprehensive it had undertaken, including looking at the worldwide evidence, and confirmed its findings from seven years ago that the trade should remain legal.

The report said qat was a herbal product made up of leaves and shoots of the shrub Catha edulis, which releases a mild stimulant after being chewed for about an hour and three-quarters. It is imported from Kenya, Ethiopia and Yemen on regular flights to Heathrow but has to be distributed rapidly as it only has a lifespan of 48 hours. Imports stood at 2,560 tonnes in 2011/2012 and were valued at £13.8m and yielded VAT receipts of £2.8m. There was little evidence Heathrow was becoming a European-wide hub for the re-export of the stimulant.

The experts said its use in Britain had declined over the past seven years despite media claims to the contrary. Generally it is chewed at social events which take place in family homes, at community parties or at legal qat cafes. Kenyan qat sells at £3 a bundle with most users typically chewing one to two bundles in an average session lasting perhaps four to six hours.

The ACMD said that while in Africa qat was often used by students, farmers and lorry drivers to stay awake and keep working, in the British Somali community its use was mainly recreational. They said the long hours spent chewing could become a barrier to getting a job but said it was not a cause of unemployment. They noted that the majority of users moderated their consumption to fit their work patterns.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We welcome the ACMD's report and recommendations on qat. We will now consider their advice in full and respond in due course."

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