Outlawing khat will ensure that it becomes associated with crime and terrorism

The Times reported today that "the Home Secretary, Theresa May, is poised to ban a legal drug (khat) in defiance of her own officials."

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs says that there is no evidence that khat causes health problems . It also says that there is no evidence that trade in khat is directly linked to organised crime or used to fund the extremist Islamist terrorist group al-Shabab.

Outlawing the drug will mean that there will no longer be a legal sources of supply.

The report says that khat is used by 90,000 Somalis, Yemenis and Ethiopians in Britain. With that kind of demand, we can be sure that outlawing the drug will ensure that it will become associated with organised crime and/or terrorists.