評論
打印
Britain Dug prohibition
英國 禁毒
Banning the east African stimulant may backfire
東非的興奮劑禁令可能會適得其反
OUTSIDE a newsagent's shop in the Clapham Road, a south London thoroughfare, a man sucks on a rolled-up cigarette and asks passers-by whether they want to buy some cannabis.
在倫敦大街南部的克拉彭路的一個報刊亭旁，一個人正叼著卷煙問路人他們是否需要大麻。
But shoppers seem more interested in khat, a mild narcotic popular with Ethiopians, Somalis and Yemenis.
但消費者似乎對阿拉伯茶—在俄塞俄比亞人、索馬里人和也門人群中頗受歡迎的一種輕度鎮定劑。
Inside, the shopkeeper pulls out bundles of the yellowish leaf and explains that it is the last batch he will sell.
店里內部，店主拿出少許淡黃色葉片并說明這些是他將賣出的最后一批貨了。
“After tomorrow, they stop, no more,” he says.
“明日之后，再沒有這些東西了，”他說。
On June 24th the sale of khat was prohibited in Britain, almost a year after Theresa May, the home secretary, told the House of Commons that she intended to ban it.
6月24日，阿拉伯茶的銷售在英國被喊停，這距離內政部長Theresa May告知下議院她將下令禁止阿拉伯茶幾乎有一年的時間了。
The government argues that since the leaf has been banned elsewhere, Britain risks turning into a distribution point if it remains legal;
政府認為，由于該葉片已在他處被禁止，如果阿拉伯茶的禁令仍然合法，
that khat is a dangerous intoxicant that harms its users and that the “marfashes” where men go to chew are breeding radicalism.
英國就是在冒險轉變至一個交易點，阿拉伯茶成為一種會傷害其使用者的危險致醉物質，
But both the government's advisory council on the misuse of drugs and the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee advised against the crackdown.
同時人們常聚集食用葉片的的“marfashes（提供阿拉伯茶的店）”也逐漸滋生出激進主義。但政府針對藥物濫用的咨詢委員會和下議院民政事務委員會的建議都反對鎮壓。
Unusually for a drug ban, prohibition seems likely to stop the use of khat.
與一般禁毒令不同的是，禁止似乎更可能意味著對阿拉伯茶的停用。
Users must chew great wodges of the leaf, which loses its potency just a few days after being picked.
使用者必須咀嚼大量的在采摘數天后會失去效力的葉片。
That makes it uneconomical to smuggle.
這使得走私該葉片變得不合算。
Unlike cannabis, khat cannot be grown easily in Britain.
與大麻不同的是，阿拉伯茶在英國很難生長。
Before the ban, loads were flown in from Africa and distributed from warehouses near Heathrow airport—in 2013 around 15m-worth ($25m) was imported from Kenya.
禁令之前，貨物從非洲空運，而且分布在倫敦希斯羅機場附近的倉庫的貨物—2013年價值1500萬是從肯尼亞進口的。
That trade is likely to dry up.
那樣的交易很可能逐漸衰退。
The broader effects of the ban are less clear.
禁令更廣泛的影響并不太明顯。
Some Somalis and Ethiopians hope that khat-chewers will find something more productive to do with their time.
一些索馬里人和埃塞俄比亞人希望那些咀嚼阿拉伯茶葉的人能利用他們的時間發現更有效益的事情。
Supporters of the ban include women who complain that their husbands chew the leaf almost without ceasing.
禁令的支持者包括那些抱怨他們的丈夫幾乎沒有停歇的咀嚼葉片的婦女們。
The Home Office points to studies which suggest that the drug is associated with marital problems, poor attendance at work and financial stress.
內政部的研究指出了該藥與婚姻問題、工作的低出勤率和財政壓力的相關性。
Less happily, people may turn to other substances.
不幸的是，人們可能會另覓他物。
“Most people, they just chew it at weekends, chat, watch football,” says an Ethiopian waiter.
以為來自埃塞俄比亞的侍者說“許多人只在周末、閑聊和看球賽時咀嚼阿拉伯茶葉片，
“I see these women on the TV saying that their husbands chew every day, and I think, your husband, he has no self-control.”
我看到那些在電視上說他們丈夫每日都在咀嚼葉片的婦女們，我想，你們的丈夫缺乏的是自我控制力。”
Most users will simply drink more coffee, he reckons.
他預測，大部分使用者會喝更多的咖啡。
But some won't. And other drugs are not difficult to find.
但是有些人可能不會這樣。并且其他的毒品也不難尋找。譯者：張娣校對：王穎
譯文屬譯生譯世
