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"GK" <kadagys@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:h9mqo0$tog$1@trimpas.omnitel.net...
> Įdomu būtų žinoti, kokiais keliais Jemeno arabų kalbos žodis atsirado Lietuvos jaunimo žargone.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Poor Yemenis seek
> nirvana with narcotic leaf
> By Ghaida Ghantous
>
>
>
>
> SANAA, March 14 (Reuters) - A group of young Yemenis throng outside a small market around midday to buy bushels of the 
> mild narcotic qat for an afternoon of mastication and relaxation.
> Mohamed Awadi, 20, spends nearly half his monthly salary to indulge in the long chewing sessions, a centuries-old 
> tradition practiced by both ordinary people and top government officials in the poor Arab state.
> “Qat is relaxing. It takes me out into space,” said Awadi who spends at least 15,000 rials ($83) each month on the 
> branches of bitter green and reddish-brown leaves.
> Qat lovers seek what they call “kaif”, a state of heightened perception and emotion achieved after hours of chewing.
> After taking the plastic-wrapped branches from the market sellers, dressed in the traditional shirt and lungi with the 
> jambiya dagger tied at their waists, the men head out for a hearty lunch to bolster themselves for the chewing 
> sessions.
> They take place in a small room or diwan, scented with incense and kept warm to enhance the effect of the drug. Often 
> a hookah pipe is placed in the middle for those who want to smoke tobacco too.
> Lounging on low mattresses with the bags of qat next to them, the men pluck the softest leaves and push them into one 
> cheek, where they are ground into a growing wad the juices from which are absorbed into the bloodstream.
> Bottles of water are placed on small tables to combat the dehydrating effects of qat, which contains chemicals similar 
> in effect to amphetamines, which raise blood pressure and body temperature as well as releasing adrenaline.
> Despite the bulging cheeks, conversation is lively as jokes are swapped and the pile of discarded leaves and twigs 
> grows and adrenaline builds
> in the first few hours.
> But when “kaif” arrives, the mood becomes introspective and this is the time to play soft, romantic music.
> “You ponder life and plan your future and when you wake all you are left with is empty talk,” said 21-year-old Fouad, 
> who is studying computer science at an American institute.
> He chews qat daily and spends 20,000 riyals a month or two-thirds of his allowance on the habit. “It helps me study,” 
> he said, as other students at the market nodded in agreement.
> The gatherings, at which politics and business are discussed and contacts made, are growing in popularity among young 
> people and women despite official efforts to reduce its consumption.
>
> Lucrative trade
> Qat is an expensive habit in a country where, according to a World Bank official, per capital income is $500, the poor 
> account for 42 percent of the 18.5 million population, unemployment is around 11 percent and under-employment is 25 
> percent.
> There are concerns that qat is reducing productivity with the vast majority of the workforce retreating for a 
> four-hour qat break in the afternoon. There are also fears that the water-intensive crop is depleting scarce water 
> resources.
> There have been some efforts to curtail its usage. The state banned qat in government offices, the military and the 
> national airline. In 1999, it was announced that President Ali Abdullah Saleh had given up the habit.
> But the campaign to wean the population off qat has not been very successful. Not only is it a popular pastime, it is 
> also a very lucrative trade.
> Ali al-Jaradi, 43, said he makes between 40,000 and 50,000 rials a day from selling qat. The price ranges between 200 
> and 1
> ,000 rials a bundle in markets in Sanaa, depending on the quality of the leaves and on rainfall.
> Shawqi, a taxi driver, manages to bring in only 30,000 rials each month by working 12 hours a day.
> The stimulant, which is also prized in the Horn of Africa, is also smuggled across the border into Saudi Arabia, where 
> it is illegal.
> “Qat is a major problem,” said Nadir Mohammed, senior economist at the World Bank office in Sanaa. “It is a 
> water-intensive plant which is depleting water resources and national productivity.”
> “They dig 700 metres (2,300 feet) for wells. They are not prepared to do that for any other crop, but qat pays money,” 
> he added.
> Yemen has only 130 cubic metres of water per person per year. According to government statistics, qat uses up as 
> nearly 80 percent of the water supply in some parts of the country.
> Experts say the problem requires a major reduction campaign offering farmers an alternative.
> Officials are also concerned about the effect of qat on health, especially that of children in the absence of laws 
> regulating the drug. Pesticides are used in cultivation and the side-effects include lack of appetite and insomnia.
> Mohamed Hatta, like many, ignores the critics. “It brings you kaif,” he said.
>