The Flower of Paradise. The Institutionalized Use of the Drug Qat in North Yemen. 1987. 268 p. gr8vo. Cloth.

Contains the results of a two-year study of the sociological, cultural, economical, and healthimplications of the uses of the drug Quat in North Yemen. Qat is astimulant drug used on a daily or weekly basis by the majority of the people in North Yemen, as well as by many other populations around the Red Sea. The book demonstrates the profound importance of Qat in Yemeni society and culture, and assesses the effects of this. The study is among the most thorough examinations of any institutionalized drug,which has important general implications for understanding the integrations of substance use into societies anywhere. The findings reported here have not been written solely for specialists, but can be understood to those who know nothing of Yemen society, or of the technical literature drug use. - Contents: Introduction/ History and Social Structure of North Yemen/ A Short History of Qat and its Use/ A Social Institution/ The Qat Experience/ The Agriculture and Economics of Qat/ The Botany, Chemistry, and Pharmacology of Qat/ Qat and the Question of Addiction/ Qat and Health/ Conclusion.