DOSE:

2 g

buccal

Catha edulis

(leaves)

BODY WEIGHT:

73 kg

In South Africa, Catha Edulis is an indigenous tree/shrub native to the Eastern Cape province that can be purchased as a garden plant through indigenous nurseries and a handful of growers who grow mainly from cuttings. Strange that the authorities don't seem to take note of this as Khat leaves are listed as an illegal substance here. The local strains of Khat are reportedly not as potent as those from East Africa but I have found them to very useful and have 7 shrubs growing in my garden that I purchased at one of our famous botanical gardens for about ten US dollars per 80cm shrub. These ensure a steady year round supply.

Initial experimentation chewing large amounts of the mature leaves was not pleasant. Older leaves are bitter with a lot of tannins and not fun to chew. In larger doses I found the drug scary - it has a clear amphetamine type stimulant effect with dry mouth, increased pulse rate and blood pressure and hypervigilance - what I did not like was a gritty, aggressive type of edginess to the drug that had me craving more and more of the bitter leaves. The insomnia that followed was no fun either. The comedown was tangible and it took another 2 days to get over the stuff completely.

Subsequently I have learned that cathinone is absolute magic in smaller doses and as such is a very useful herb. Firstly only the new tender leaves should be harvested and used - these are soft and have a typical ketone (think acetone) type sweet taste and are good to chew, the pink stems are more bitter but still pleasant.

What I typically do is roll a plug of soft leaves about the size of my thumb up to the first joint and pop these into a cheek and gently suck on the sweet leaves for an hour or two as the juices are slowly extracted - as the leaves soften they are eventually chewed and swallowed little bits at a time. At this rate a small cigarette pack size box of loosely packed leaves lasts more than a day and the stimulant effect of the drug is mild and pleasant, without the gritty craving and easy to quit after a day or two's use.
The chemists will notice that cathinone has a markedly similar structure to the registered antidepressant/smoking cessation aid bupropion. Chewing khat leaves in this manner I found a surprising lack of nicotine craving and used the drug over a continuous three day period to quit smoking followed by a gradual taper over another 10 odd days using a small plug of leaves whenever I thought of smoking. I have quit smoking before and this time around it was a non-issue - never been so easy!

The second phenomenal effect of cathinone is its potent appetite suppressing effect. Currently I use the leaves two days a week to help keep up an 'alternate day diet' - using khat in this way I have managed to shake off about 5 extra Kgs and keep them off for a couple of months now without any noticeable craving during the other 5 days of the week.

The third desirable effect of low dose cathinone is its stimulant properties that are way better than legal stimulants like caffeine. Whenever I need to drive long distance or stay awake and focused for whatever reason, a couple of plugs of the fresh sweet leaves do the trick and if I get the dose right, falling asleep after is not an issue as long as the dose is carefully managed.

The last effect of low dose cathinone is also very useful in the bedroom. In high doses cathinone is a downright turnoff - no sex drive or desire whatsoever. At lower doses however it is fantastic - If I take just enough I have all the desire necessary but can just keep on trucking as long as I want to and orgasm when I decide to. The orgasms are good, if not better, especially after a long session of good sex. I have no idea what it would do to female sexual function.

After all this you may think I am a khat dealer or something, but nothing could be further from the truth. My own steady supply via a couple of plants together with a careful and sensible approach to using the drug that includes regular drug 'holidays' makes sure I do not develop tolerance or craving, a really useful addition to my 'herbal' plant collection. Yay for South Africa, I love living in this place.

Exp Year: 2010	ExpID: 85995
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 38
Published: Oct 11, 2019	Views: 3,872
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Catha edulis (32) : Glowing Experiences (4), Performance Enhancement (50), Cultivation / Synthesis (31), Retrospective / Summary (11), Various (28)