Conclusion: Users of the drug in the same class as heroin mostly Somalis and Ethiopians.
From News Channel 5:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – An investigation into an illegal substance has resulted in convictions for people dealing in a drug that’s well known in the rest of the world, but relatively brand new in the mid-state.
A six-month investigating against local users of “Khat” are wrapping up in a local courtroom, after the arrests were first made a couple of years ago.
NewsChannel 5 spoke with an undercover officer about the connection between the drug, and some of the area’s immigrant communities.
“Most of the individuals that were ingesting these drugs were from Somalia and Ethiopia. It was more of a cultural drug, is what we found. And it was mostly found in that community,” said the officer.
Khat is a stimulant that can be mixed with a liquid substance like water or tea, then ingested into the body by mouth. It can stay in the body for up to two or three days.
Khat is a schedule one narcotic, which puts it in the same category as heroin.
Just last month we reported in a ‘diversity is strength alert’ about a massive drug bust in Virginia and Maryland involving Somalis and Yemenis.