The health risks of Khat and Influences it has on Integration issues

The aim of the study was to explore Somalis men’s perceptions of using khat. Qualitative approach has been used to explore and describe an overall picture of this circumstance. Key informant interviews were carried out in Stockholm and Västerås cities, using snowball sampling which is conducted when the researcher’s access to participants is limited and accesses through contact information or a social network that is provided by other informants. Khat is illegal in Sweden. Yet, findings of this study shows that in Sweden neighborhoods with growing Somali populations have significant number of khat users. Perceptions of these users vary from one user to another; some perceive that it is important to frame the khat in the community not as a drug problem but as a wider public health issue, while others argued that khat use has negative impact on integration issues in the new host country. Meanwhile, significant numbers of khat users view it as a social convention, promoting harmony and providing a forum for collective decision making. Generally, perception of users confirmed two major concerns; health issues and frequent familial discords attributed to usage of khat.