Toronto khat bust part of a growing trend, police say

An arrest in a Toronto drug case on Thursday has shed more light on what officials say is a growing problem in Canada khat.

Common in East Africa where users chew the leaves, khat (Catha edulis Forsk) isa flowering evergreen shrub or small tree native to East Africa and southern Arabia.

It can also act as a stimulant that, according to the RCMP, produces a "euphoria comparable to that of a very mild cocaine or amphetamine high."

It can also be smoked or turned into liquid form for injection.

Though legal in some countries, it's illegal to import, possess and use khat in Canada.

"It's common in maybe some other countries, but our expert tells us there's a danger to using that drug," said Staff Insp. Don Campbell of the Toronto police drug squad. "We should get the message out that it may be legal somewhere, but it's certainly not legal here."

Thursday's arrest ofa woman in the Dixon Road and Islington Avenue areain the city's west end involvedseven kilos of khat worth about $3,000 on the street.

Campbell said it's still a relatively new drug in Toronto.

"In 2005, we didn't have any seizures of khat, yet last year we had 10 different occurrences where we seized, in total, 266 kilograms," he said.

The RCMP tells a different story for Canada as a whole.

The Mounties' websitesays there were nearly 900 khat seizures in 2005, totalling over 17 tonnes, with the biggest discovery being a 400-kg stash concealed in a shipment of fresh cut flowers at Pearson International Airport.

Most is shipped by air, the RCMP says, because khat has a short shelf life. The United Kingdom, where khat is not a controlled substance, is considered a main conduit for the plant.