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Khat is a flowering plant grown in Yemen. The scientific name of the Khat plant is Catha Edulis. Usually, a fully-grown Khat plant measures up to twelve feet. The minimum length of the Khat plant is six feet. The leaves of the Khat plant are chewed for gaining extra energy. Hence, it is used by the local people as a substitute for beverages like coffee. However, the Khat leaves, if taken in overdose, might cause hallucination and lead to a mental state of paranoia. The delusion is caused due to certain chemicals, which are present in the leaves of these plants. The two main chemicals in the Khat leaves are cathinone and cathine. Cathinone is matures in the older leaves to become cathine. Young leaves of Khat, which are less than two days old, have the maximum effect, when consumed.
Apart from Yemen, Khat is also grown in the other countries of Arabia as well as certain countries in the eastern part of Africa. Khat has several other local names such as, chat, gat, tschat, tohai, qat and mirraa.
The leaves of Khat plants are exported to other countries, especially to the United States through emigrants from Yemen and other Arabian countries. They can be dried and preserved.
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