D.C. seeks tougher penalties for khat

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By Gary Emerling

The District is moving to stiffen penalties for a little-known drug that authorities suspect is used by cabdrivers in the city to stay alert and to finance terrorism overseas.

Parts of the khat plant - a flowering evergreen shrub native to East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula - when fresh can produce effects similar to those of cocaine. Chewing the leaves is socially acceptable in countries such as Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.

In the District and elsewhere across the country, officials are noticing and combating the drug's use: In 2004, federal agents seized 3,000 pounds of khat worth more than $5 million at the Port of Baltimore. The Metropolitan Police Department in May arrested nearly three dozen people and seized 30 pounds of khat during a raid in the Northwest neighborhood of Shaw.

"If you compare what we're seeing today to like five, 10 years ago, it's definitely growing," said Inspector Brian Bray, commander of the Metropolitan Police Department's Narcotics and Special Investigations division. "A lot of people didn't know what it was before."

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, a Democrat, this month included a proposal that would make fresh khat - which contains the alkaloid cathinone that produces a stimulant effect - a Schedule I drug under D.C. law, as it is under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

The move, if approved by the D.C. Council, would mean a person caught in possession of cathinone-containing fresh khat and intending to manufacture or distribute the plant could face prison time.

Under current city statutes, cathinone - which dissipates gradually after the plant is harvested - is not listed as a controlled substance and warrants no prison sentence. However, a large seizure of the substance in the city could warrant prosecution under federal law, which calls for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison for possession with intent to distribute, said Patricia Riley, special counsel to the U.S. attorney for the District, Jeffrey A. Taylor.

When not fresh, khat still contains the weaker alkaloid cathine, which is 10 times less potent but considered a Schedule IV substance under D.C. and federal law. In the District, possession with intent to manufacture or distributing cathine can result in a maximum prison sentence of three years.

Mr. Fenty's proposal follows a request by the U.S. attorney's office in the District, acting D.C. Attorney General Peter J. Nickles said. Miss Riley said the District's law regarding khat should be consistent with federal statutes. The potency of cathinone also makes the change necessary, she said.

"Law enforcement has intercepted fresh khat coming into the city, and it made sense to change the statute to reflect the more serious drug," Miss Riley said.