In the sweltering seaside port of Mogadishu, Sharif Ahmed tried to attack his relatives and neighbours, resulting in an emergency trip to a psychiatric hospital in handcuffs. It is not the endless civil war making the 22-year-old restless, but withdrawal from the narcotic leaf khat that he has been chewing on since he was 15. Once the khat arrives in Mogadishu, men gather in groups to chew the leaf, a mild stimulant, and chat into the early hours. That affected users, causing some to go for long periods without sleep, said Abdirashid Abdulahi, a doctor at Mogadishu’s Habeeb Psychiatric Emergency Hospital. There are more than 10 million users of khat around the world, the Nairobi-based Kenya Medical Research Institute said.

Source: Standard Digital July 23, 2020 13:16 UTC