Quasilegality: khat, cannabis and Africa’s drug laws

Abstract

This article explores the concept of 'quasilegality' in relation to two of Africa's drug crops: khat and cannabis. It argues that the concept is useful in understanding the two substances and their ambiguous relation to the statute books: khat being of varied and ever-changing legal status yet often treated with suspicion even where legal, while cannabis is illegal everywhere in Africa yet often seems de facto legal. The article argues that such quasilegality is socially significant and productive, raising the value of such crops for farmers and traders, but also allowing states to police or not police these substances as their interests and instincts dictate. It also argues that there is no clear link between the law on the statute book and the actual harm potential of these substances. Finally, it suggests that the concept has much wider use beyond these case-studies of drugs in Africa in a world where global consensus on drug policy is cracking, and where many other objects of trade and activities find themselves in the blurred territory of the quasilegal.

Fake drugs: health, wealth and regulation in Nigeria

“…For a discussion of the concept and ramifications of ÔquasilegalityÕ in the field of drugs, seeCarrier and Klantschnig (2017).…”

A brief agricultural history of cannabis in Africa, from prehistory to canna-colony

“…In several African countries, Rastafarianism has been a countercultural target of anti-cannabis campaigns. Independent African countries maintained colonial-era anti-cannabis laws in order to comply with international agreements, and because many elites disapproved of the drug (Carrier and Klantschnig, 2018). In the 1980s, cannabis production increased continentwide, in correlation with economic crises; production has since grown consistently, although not uniformly between countries (Perez and Laniel, 2004;Carrier and Klantschnig, 2016;Chouvy and Afsahi, 2014;Destrebecq, 2007).…”

“…In the 1980s, cannabis production increased continentwide, in correlation with economic crises; production has since grown consistently, although not uniformly between countries (Perez and Laniel, 2004;Carrier and Klantschnig, 2016;Chouvy and Afsahi, 2014;Destrebecq, 2007). Africa has been an active front in the global War on Drugs since the 1990s (Carrier and Klantschnig, 2012;Ellis, 2009), but national governments have shown varying levels of tolerance toward cannabis (Carrier and Klantschnig, 2018).…”

“…Commercial farmers in colonial DRC reduced their risks by paying non-agricultural foragers ("Pygmies") to tend remote plantations (Turnbull, 1960, p. 37). Illegality has made cannabis a morally checkered crop (Carrier and Klantschnig, 2018). In Kenya in the 1980s, farmers desperate for income sowed cannabis even though earnings from the crop were considered "evil money" (Shipton, 1989).…”

An assessment of khat consumption habit and its linkage to household economies and work culture: The case of Harar city

“…According to Cochrane and Girma, these decision-makers are faced with a ‘difficult, and at times impossible, task’ of considering a myriad of political, economic, social and cultural components [8]. The current state of affairs is one of ‘quasilegality’ of khat consumption, with laws that are vague, flexible, susceptible to manipulation and lie between lawlessness and complete legality [18].…”