Got Qat?

Did I say the Yemani people were industrious, clever, dedicated, and hard working? They were. Today, en masse - the entire population seems destined to a life of idleness and drug abuse. I'm only sort of exagerating.

In my preivious post, I mented terraced farming and the amazing techniques the ancient Yemeni people devised to grow their crops. One of the main crops was coffee. Fair enough, it's been around for ages and a great cash crop for many countries throughout the world.

In recent years though, coffee has been found less profitable than "Qat." What is Qat and why is it more profitable? Well - it's a mild narcotic and it seems that 70% of the population chews it. And when I say "chews it" - any MLB player's chewing habit pales comparison. They start (daily) at 1pm and chew for 5+ hours (one little leaf at a time. Chip and Dale have nothing on the average male member of Yemeni society's puffy cheeks.




























I found this photo online, but this was a common site every day, everywhere. Even the military guards at the check points had mouthfulls of chewed leaves (and 3 hour old syliva). Yuck.

Point is - 70%+ of men chew it; 70%+ of the Yemeni water supply goes to growing it;70%+ of the work day is spent chewing it; and I don't know for sure, but it seems like 70%+ of one's annual salary goes to buying it.

Without going into a deep political tirate about social issues... this experience solidified my belief that legalizing drugs is NOT the answer. Qat is completely legal in Yemen. Legalized drug use isn't the solution to the druig problems we face in the US (or elsewhere).

Sometimes it's good (even appropriate) to say, as a society, that something is inappropriate (what we do when we say something is illegal) - even if a lot of people like doing it... for the sake of society as a whole.