UK drug advisers reject khat ban

23 January 2013 Last updated at 13:32 ET

The UK government's official drugs advisory body has rejected calls to ban the herbal stimulant, khat.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) said there was "insufficient evidence" that khat caused health problems.

The stimulant is traditionally used by members of the Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities.

It has been outlawed by the US and Canada and in most European countries, most recently by the Netherlands.

The review was commissioned by the Home Office.

The ACMD said there was "no evidence" khat, which contain the stimulant cathinone, was directly linked with serious or organised crime.

It said khat, which consists of the leaves and shoots of a shrub cultivated in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, was chewed to obtain a "mild stimulant effect much less potent than stimulant drugs, such as amphetamine".

Khat is sold in bundles for about 3 to 6 each. Users often chew one or two bundles for up to six hours at a time.

Somali groups in the UK had told the council that use of khat, which acts as a stimulant when chewed, was a "significant social problem".

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UK drug advisers reject khat ban