Qat 2 A Society Committing Suicide a Nation Eroding

Yemenat

Ahmed Saif Hashed

Before 1990, in Aden prior to Yemeni unification, the consumption or sale of qat was permitted only during official holidays and on weekends, specifically Thursdays and Fridays.

On all other days, the penalties were severe, and the law was enforced with strictness. I once heard of a man who was reported by his neighbor for secretly chewing qat in his home in Dar Saad.

He was arrested, brought to trial, and sentenced to two years in prison, effective immediately.

After Yemeni unification in 1990, I was transferred to work in Sana’a. At the beginning of my stay there, I was struck by the sight of most of society chewing qat throughout the entire week.

Qat markets were the most crowded, noisy, and chaotic places. Some people chewed once a day, others twice in what was known as the two-round system, and some exceeded even that through what was called the extended session.

I saw children between the ages of ten and eighteen chewing qat. Some were unruly and homeless, others worked in exhausting jobs, and some did so under the care or encouragement of their parents, or at least with their families’ full knowledge.

I also observed wives chewing qat with their husbands or under their supervision, and I heard of private women’s qat sessions where women gathered specifically for that purpose.

In times of war, we have seen how warring parties take special care to provide qat to fighters, viewing it as a stimulant for endurance, activity, and aggression. It has come to be treated as a wartime necessity, listed alongside food, water, weapons, and ammunition.

During the recent war, which lasted seven years, I witnessed young men learning to chew qat on the front lines. I also saw youth driven by poverty, need, opportunism,