Yemen

[Page 867]The Republic of Yemen remains a yet to be developed nation of 23 million citizens (mainly Islamic Sunni and Sh'ia religious groups). Located on the lowest end of the Arabian Peninsula, it borders Saudi Arabia to the north, Oman to the east and the waters of the Arabian Sea, Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. The land mass is about 205,000 square miles (similar in size to California). There are four drug issues in Yemen: (1) the khat shrub (Catha edulis Forsk) contains the powerful psychostimulant drugs cathinone and cathine; (2) the dire lack of water resources, much of which are heavily exploited for irrigation for growing khat; (3) the ineffective economic, political, and medical efforts to curtail khat growth and use; and ...