Mankato drug bust nets $6,000 worth of khat

[JTY]

I should also add that the British medical journal has it listed as less addictive and less harmful then pot.

[predictable]

Drug Counselor wrote:

This drug is also known to cause hallucinations and other paranoid behavior in people. The reason it is so popular here is because it is less detectable. Do some research, you will learn much more about it. Just saying.....

Those are valid points, but the same thing can happen to chronic abusers of coffee/energy drinks, or anyone who uses caffeine/other legal stimulants to go too long without sleep. Khat is just not comparable to "hard drugs" like coke or meth - it is an unprocessed natural stimulant.

I worked with a couple of Ethiopian guys for years who chewed quite a bit khat. They were no crazier than the rest of us who drank too much coffee to stay awake on the night shift.

[The Police]

Did you see the picture of the cop holding the plants away from her body and with latex gloves?

What a joke, it's like coffee.

[Sense]

predictable wrote:

<quoted text>
Hence the *real* reason khat is illegal. It has nothing to do with what the drug does to your body, it's all about *who* uses it.

Well, the ACLU should be all over this then. Maybe you can work on legalizing Khat while pushing for a couple of radical Muslim Mosques to go up in your neighborhood.

[predictable]

Sense wrote:

<quoted text>
Well, the ACLU should be all over this then. Maybe you can work on legalizing Khat while pushing for a couple of radical Muslim Mosques to go up in your neighborhood.

You're funny. This isn't a religious issue. Khat consumption is not a Muslim thing, its geographical, and it predates Islam. What about the Ethiopians? They're usually Christian - maybe they can be exempt? After all, they're on our side in the war on terror.

[Sense]

predictable wrote:

<quoted text>
You're funny. This isn't a religious issue. Khat consumption is not a Muslim thing, its geographical, and it predates Islam. What about the Ethiopians? They're usually Christian - maybe they can be exempt? After all, they're on our side in the war on terror.

Are the Ethiopians feeling discriminated against because their drug of choice is illegal here in the USA?
Weed is legal in the Netherlands, should we legalize that as well to strengthen our relationship with the good people of Amsterdam?
Khat is mostly used in the Middle East; most of the Middle East is Muslim. Do you have need of a religious map?

[Joe]

The biggest problem with this country is the likes of the anal posters on this thread. who gives a rats azz about some people using a "drug" like this?

FYI, it would be a lot less trouble and cost a lot less to decriminalize (as opposed to leagalize) things like this than it does to send a bunch of cops to arrest people for petty crap like using Khat. Don't forget, everything is legal until some anal azz decides to make it illegal.

[predictable]

Sense wrote:

<quoted text>
Are the Ethiopians feeling discriminated against because their drug of choice is illegal here in the USA?
Weed is legal in the Netherlands, should we legalize that as well to strengthen our relationship with the good people of Amsterdam?
Khat is mostly used in the Middle East; most of the Middle East is Muslim. Do you have need of a religious map?

The bottom line - for me - is that substances should only be illegal if they are unquestionably dangerous to individual users and to society as a whole. Khat meets neither of those criteria any more so than coffee or red bull, both of which are legal. Therefore khat should legal, as well.

Your argument seems to be that khat should remain illegal because Middle Easterners use it, and most Middle Easterners are muslim, and muslim=bad. Therefore we should criminalize any substance that happens to be enjoyed by Muslims, in order to make them feel unwelcome in the US, and hopefully leave. If so, heck, let's extend that to lamb meat, basmati rice, and black tea. Flafel and gyro, too.

This argument is un-American. Why do you hate freedom?

[wtf]

ha ha i know them

[izzy]

Why do you think people still use khat? even though its illegal, why is it used continuesly?

[izzy]

Predictable, that's a good one. But guess what, racism will never end period!!!

[izzy]

Although this country is merely about freedom and bunch of oppartunities, bla bla bla, appreciate it. However, it isnt easy. You have to work hard to fight back against recism, and other grabs people will throw at you!

[doodad]

Wonderful. We take a drug these folks were going to consume and no one would ever know and turn it into a bust that will obligate taxpayers to pay court costs followed by $50,000/year to keep these horrible criminals behind bars. Meanwhile, that is at least 50k less for schools roads and other positive things. It is more money for the prisons so if that is your business then jackpot.

[JimW]

Mankato has a big drug problem and the city will not admit it. What's going on here? Why is the city keeping this from the taxpayers?

[Anja Em]

I've been listening to the scanner since college began again and the increase in burglaries, medical assistance for overdose, assault, criminal damage to property have increased quite a bit.

I'd hate to say it's the "best and the brightest" doing this. Tomorrow's leaders? I hope not.

The issue for me is that the law is being broken regardless of whether that is a sound law or a frivolous law. It perhaps will be altered to accomodate our new citizens?

When we read more serious stories about honor killings and other cultural quirks that some of our new neighbors practice it makes sense to me that law enforcement wants to make it clear that the laws of the country need to be followed until they are changed.

Is that "prejudice?" I think not.

[Anja Em]

JimW wrote:

Mankato has a big drug problem and the city will not admit it. What's going on here? Why is the city keeping this from the taxpayers?

Money, Jim. And failure to add in all the hidden costs of catering to the high life.