Pubdate: Tue, 01 Apr 2008 Source: Yemen Observer (Yemen) Copyright: 2008 Yemen Observer Contact: http://www.yobserver.com/contactus/contactus.php?issue=86 Website: http://www.yobserver.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3136 QAT ADDICTS BARRED FROM U.S. The U.S. embassy in Sana'a said on Sunday that it will prohibit Yemenis who are addicted to qat from entering the United States as immigrants. The embassy considers qat, a mildly narcotic plant chewed regularly by many Yemenis, to be an illegal drug, a diplomat at the embassy told the Yemen Observer. The embassy has also issued a ban on its staff in Yemen from using the substance. Immigrant visa applicants should prove they have stopped using qat at least three years prior to their application if they want to be eligible, the source said. This step will not be applied to those who go to the U.S. merely as tourists, it applies to immigrants only, the source said. "Qat has two chemical components, legally defined as drugs by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and the U.S. Controlled Substances Act; cathine and cathinone," the source said. "Cathine is a Schedule IV drug and cathinone is a Schedule I drug. Schedule I drugs are considered to have a high potential for abuse and currently have no accepted medical uses". Abuse of Schedule I drugs is considered a "Class A" medical ineligibility under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). So, the source said, applicants for immigrant visas who are medically found to have used a Schedule I drug beyond simple experimentation (i.e. a single use), must be found ineligible for a visa. Former users of qat who can medically prove that they have not used qat for at least three years may be found to have a "Class B" medical condition. According the INA, "sustained, full remission of addiction or abuse of specific substances" reduces the Class A medical ineligibility to a Class B medical condition, which does not render the applicant ineligible for an immigrant visa. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath