评论
打印
Britain Dug prohibition
英国 禁毒
Banning the east African stimulant may backfire
东非的兴奋剂禁令可能会适得其反
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.
在伦敦大街南部的克拉彭路的一个报刊亭旁，一个人正叼着卷烟问路人他们是否需要大麻。
But shoppers seem more interested in khat, a mild narcotic popular with Ethiopians, Somalis and Yemenis.
但消费者似乎对阿拉伯茶—在俄塞俄比亚人、索马里人和也门人群中颇受欢迎的一种轻度镇定剂。
Inside, the shopkeeper pulls out bundles of the yellowish leaf and explains that it is the last batch he will sell.
店里内部，店主拿出少许淡黄色叶片并说明这些是他将卖出的最后一批货了。
“After tomorrow, they stop, no more,” he says.
“明日之后，再没有这些东西了，”他说。
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，阿拉伯茶的销售在英国被喊停，这距离内政部长Theresa May告知下议院她将下令禁止阿拉伯茶几乎有一年的时间了。
The government argues that since the leaf has been banned elsewhere, Britain risks turning into a distribution point if it remains legal;
政府认为，由于该叶片已在他处被禁止，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.
英国就是在冒险转变至一个交易点，阿拉伯茶成为一种会伤害其使用者的危险致醉物质，
But both the government's advisory council on the misuse of drugs and the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee advised against the crackdown.
同时人们常聚集食用叶片的的“marfashes（提供阿拉伯茶的店）”也逐渐滋生出激进主义。但政府针对药物滥用的咨询委员会和下议院民政事务委员会的建议都反对镇压。
Unusually for a drug ban, prohibition seems likely to stop the use of khat.
与一般禁毒令不同的是，禁止似乎更可能意味着对阿拉伯茶的停用。
Users must chew great wodges of the leaf, which loses its potency just a few days after being picked.
使用者必须咀嚼大量的在采摘数天后会失去效力的叶片。
That makes it uneconomical to smuggle.
这使得走私该叶片变得不合算。
Unlike cannabis, khat cannot be grown easily in Britain.
与大麻不同的是，阿拉伯茶在英国很难生长。
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，货物从非洲空运，而且分布在伦敦希斯罗机场附近的仓库的货物—2013年价值1500万是从肯尼亚进口的。
That trade is likely to dry up.
那样的交易很可能逐渐衰退。
The broader effects of the ban are less clear.
禁令更广泛的影响并不太明显。
Some Somalis and Ethiopians hope that khat-chewers will find something more productive to do with their time.
一些索马里人和埃塞俄比亚人希望那些咀嚼阿拉伯茶叶的人能利用他们的时间发现更有效益的事情。
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们的丈夫几乎没有停歇的咀嚼叶片的妇女们。
The Home Office points to studies which suggest that the drug is associated with marital problems, poor attendance at work and financial stress.
内政部的研究指出了该药与婚姻问题、工作的低出勤率和财政压力的相关性。
Less happily, people may turn to other substances.
不幸的是，人们可能会另觅他物。
“Most people, they just chew it at weekends, chat, watch football,” says an Ethiopian waiter.
以为来自埃塞俄比亚的侍者说“许多人只在周末、闲聊和看球赛时咀嚼阿拉伯茶叶片，
“I see these women on the TV saying that their husbands chew every day, and I think, your husband, he has no self-control.”
我看到那些在电视上说他们丈夫每日都在咀嚼叶片的妇女们，我想，你们的丈夫缺乏的是自我控制力。”
Most users will simply drink more coffee, he reckons.
他预测，大部分使用者会喝更多的咖啡。
But some won't. And other drugs are not difficult to find.
但是有些人可能不会这样。并且其他的毒品也不难寻找。译者：张娣校对：王颖
译文属译生译世
