The stimulant khat should not be banned in Britain, official drugs advisers said today, as they dismissed links between the herb's trade and funding of terrorism as a "nasty little rumour".
A study by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) into khat, which is popular among the Somali, Yemeni and Ethiopian communities, found insufficient evidence of either health or social harms.
And ACMD vice-chair Dr Hew Mathewson said the body paid "no credence" to links between the khat trade and the funding of al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based cell of the militant Islamist group al Qaida.
Around 2,560 tonnes of khat worth £13.8 million was imported to the UK in 2011/12, bringing in £2.8 million of tax revenues, the ACMD said.
The intoxicating herb is sold in small shops and cafes in bundles worth £3 to £6 each with most users chewing around one to two bundles in an average session lasting up to six hours.
