concluded that a ban wasn’t
necessary, they waited a bit then
commissioned another report. In the
end, khat was banned irrespective of
research that was ambiguous about
the harms at best.
But if the harms were so serious
that culturally embedded traditions
of British Somalis and Yemenis should
be criminalised, it seems equally
important to find out whether the
policy has been effective and whether
these harms have now been reduced.
Not to do so might even be construed
as a racist oppression of these
minorities by the British state.
For example, has khat
dependence among the affected
adults declined? Or have people just
switched to illicit khat, or alternative
stimulants that increase harm? Has
there been a decline in community
cohesion (because khat chewing is
traditionally a social activity; not
unlike going to the pub for many
other British people)? How does the
ban mediate the drug-taking careers
of second generation Yemeni and
Somali youth
ie
was khat chewing
protective against the use of other
widely available illicit drugs, or did it
provide a gateway to more
problematic drug taking?
I have no expectation that these
questions will ever be deemed
worthy of the sort of public funding
considered necessary before khat
was banned. But I think they are
interesting to highlight, because of
the way they add to the evidence
that knowledge production is biased
towards answers that serve a specific
agenda. Bias that – in this case – can
contribute to forms of cultural
oppression, which might even be
relevant to broader narratives on the
production of terror.
Neil Hunt, Kent
False results
I see that you reported the drug-
driving figures from the Institute of
Advanced Motorists (IAM) as have
other publications (
DDN
, July/August,
page 4). They give the numbers
arrested, not charged, and not the
number found guilty or not guilty.
At this stage if they have tested
presumed positive roadside, they
would have a further test to confirm
the result.
Are these figures available? They
should be – after all, some would
have been arrested and put through
the courts in March.
My concern is that the initial tests
are prone to false results, and in this
case it would be false positives. (You
will never know of the false
negatives!)
David Mackenzie, by email
correction
Last issue’s article ‘Hidden Menace’
(
DDN
, July/August, page 6) contained
reference to the book
Pure, White
and Deadly
. The author of this work
is John Yudkin (not Rudkin) and we
apologise for this error.
September 2015 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 19
Get involved:
BEN GUNN
@prisonerben1
29 Jul 2015
The first step in #prison reform is to ask ourselves who we
send to prison, and why.
INSIDE TIME
@InsideTimeUK
24 Jul 2015
@DDNMagazine What is vaping? Seems like an adult dummy
disguised as a cigarette.
BELINDA LANGLEY
@lankelangley
12 Aug 2015
@DDNMagazine while I have no disagreement with smoking,
if I can be fined for drinking pop at a red light by jobsworth
PCplod, then smoking…
BELINDA LANGLEY
@lankelangley
12 Aug 2015
@DDNMagazine …should also not be allowed while in a car, more
so when in motion! Definitely not while a child is in the car!
GAVIN BENN
@HL_GavinBenn
14 Aug 2015
#Naloxone regs changing Oct15 affecting all #homelessness
services. [
distribution/ ] shows #Birmingham leading the way
@DDNMagazine
HUGH JARSE
@Pablo1963
19 Aug 2015
@DDNMagazine They don’t quit, they just substitute. I fully
expect that in 20 years time we'll find out that ecigs cause
terminal illness
SEBASTIEN ALEXANDRE
@seb_alexandre
21 Aug 2015
@DDNMagazine An effective global drug policy could finally
reach reasonable public health objectives. The War on Drugs
never did @feditobxl
DDN welcomes your letters
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letters may be edited for space or clarity.
‘...has khat
dependence
among the
affected adults
declined? Or have
people just
switched to
illicit khat, or
alternative
stimulants that
increase harm? ’
/DDNMagazine @DDNMagazine
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