Editing Khat (section)

===North America===
====Canada====
In Canada, khat is a controlled substance under Schedule IV of the [[Controlled Drugs and Substances Act]] (CDSA), meaning it is illegal to seek or obtain unless approved by a [[medical practitioner]]. Possession of khat for personal use is not an arraignable offence in Canada. The maximum punishment for trafficking or possession with the intent of trafficking is ten years in prison.<ref name="justice">{{cite web|url=http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/C-38.8/bo-ga:s_1::bo-ga:s_2?page=2 |title=Controlled Drugs and Substances Act |publisher=Laws.justice.gc.ca |date=29 March 2010 |access-date=4 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605063752/http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/C-38.8/bo-ga%3As_1%3A%3Abo-ga%3As_2?page=2 |archive-date= 5 June 2011 }}</ref>

In 2008, Canadian authorities reported that khat is the most common illegal drug being smuggled at airports.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1216/p06s01-wogn.html |title=Gangs infiltrate Canada's airports |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |date=16 December 2008 |access-date=2 April 2010}}</ref>

However, in 2012 the [[Ontario Court of Appeal]] upheld a 2011 absolute discharge of a young woman who brought 34 kilograms of khat into Canada in 2009. According to the defence, the ruling recognises that there is no empirical evidence that khat is harmful.<ref>{{cite news|last=Powell |first=Betsy |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2012/04/20/woman_who_brought_khat_to_canada_wins_appeal.html |title=Woman who brought khat to Canada wins appeal |newspaper=The Star |date=20 April 2012 |access-date=26 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109034700/http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2012/04/20/woman_who_brought_khat_to_canada_wins_appeal.html |archive-date=9 January 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><!--former URL:url=https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/article/1165236--woman-who-brought-khat-to-canada-wins-appeal--> The courts in Quebec and Ontario continued to discharge the accused for bringing khat into Canada for the same reason (no evidence of harmfulness of khat) in 2014<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[CanLII]]|url=https://www.canlii.org/en/qc/qccq/doc/2014/2014qccq671/2014qccq671.html|title=R. c. Ali, 2014 QCCQ 671|date=2014-12-10|language=en}}</ref> and 2016.<ref>{{cite CanLII|litigants= R. v. Soufi and Mohamed|link = |year = 2016 |court = oncj|num = 643 |date = 2016-10-13|courtname = auto }}</ref>

====United States====
[[File:Deakhat.jpg|thumb|right|Bundles of khat, seized by the [[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]] in July 2006]]
In the United States, cathinone is a Schedule I drug, according to the US [[Controlled Substances Act]]. The 1993 [[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]] rule placing cathinone in Schedule I noted that it was effectively also banning khat:

{{Blockquote|Cathinone is the major psychoactive component of the plant ''Catha edulis'' (khat). The young leaves of khat are chewed for a stimulant effect. Enactment of this rule results in the placement of any material that contains cathinone into Schedule I.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.erowid.org/plants/khat/khat_law1.shtml |title=Erowid Khat Vault : Law : Federal Register vol 58, no 9 |publisher=Erowid.org |access-date=2 April 2010}}</ref>}}

''Catha edulis'' (khat) is a stimulant similar to that of amphetamine and its [[Congener (chemistry)|congeners]], not a drug as categorised by US FDA (United States Food & Drug Administration) and FDA import Alert #66-23 (published date 03/18/2011) states that "Districts may detain, without physical examination, all entries of khat",<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_180.html |title=Import Alert 66-23 |publisher=Food and Drug Administration |date=2011-03-18 |access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref> based on section 801(a) (3) of the [[Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act]] on the grounds that "its labeling fails to bear adequate directions for use."

As federal and local khat raids have often targeted immigrants from countries where khat is legal, issues of cultural misunderstanding have sometimes been raised.<ref>Verhovek, Sam Howe (2006). [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-22-na-khat22-story.html ''DEA's Khat Sting Stirs Up Somali "Cultural Clash"'']. Los Angeles Times. 22 August 2006.</ref>

The plant itself is specifically banned in Missouri:
{{Blockquote|Khat, to include all parts of the plant presently classified botanically as catha edulis, whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; any extract from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seed or extracts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/19500000172.html |title=Section 195-017 Substances, how placed in schedules-li |publisher=Moga.mo.gov |date=28 August 2009 |access-date=2 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507164615/http://www.moga.mo.gov/mostatutes/stathtml/19500000172.html |archive-date=7 May 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

In California, both the plant itself as well as cathinone, its active component, are illegal.<ref name="Group2016">{{cite book|author=LawTech Publishing Group|title=2016 California Penal Code Unabridged|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UIOSCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT3940|year=2016|publisher=LawTech Publishing Group|location=San Clemente|isbn=978-1-889315-22-5|pages=3940–}}</ref>