经济学人330:禁毒 东非的兴奋剂禁令

 　　Britain Dug prohibition¹

　　英国 禁毒

　　Banning the east African stimulant² may backfire

　　东非的兴奋剂禁令可能会适得其反

　　OUTSIDE a newsagent's shop in the Clapham Road, a south London thoroughfare, a man sucks on a rolled-up cigarette and asks passers-by whether they want to buy some cannabis.

　　在伦敦大街南部的克拉彭路的一个报刊亭旁，一个人正叼着卷烟问路人他们是否需要大麻。

　　兴奋剂禁令.jpg

　　But shoppers seem more interested in khat, a mild narcotic³ popular with Ethiopians, Somalis and Yemenis.

　　但消费者似乎对阿拉伯茶—在俄塞俄比亚人、索马里人和也门人群中颇受欢迎的一种轻度镇定剂。

　　Inside, the shopkeeper pulls out bundles of the yellowish leaf and explains that it is the last batch⁴ he will sell.

　　店里内部，店主拿出少许淡黄色叶片并说明这些是他将卖出的最后一批货了。

　　“After tomorrow, they stop, no more,” he says.

　　“明日之后，再没有这些东西了，”他说。

　　On June 24th the sale of khat was prohibited in Britain, almost a year after Theresa May, the home secretary, told the House of Commons that she intended to ban it.

　　6月24日，阿拉伯茶的销售在英国被喊停，这距离内政部长Theresa May告知下议院她将下令禁止阿拉伯茶几乎有一年的时间了。

　　The government argues that since the leaf has been banned elsewhere, Britain risks turning into a distribution point if it remains⁵ legal;

　　政府认为，由于该叶片已在他处被禁止，如果阿拉伯茶的禁令仍然合法，

　　that khat is a dangerous intoxicant that harms its users and that the “marfashes” where men go to chew are breeding radicalism⁶.

　　英国就是在冒险转变至一个交易点，阿拉伯茶成为一种会伤害其使用者的危险致醉物质，

　　But both the government's advisory⁷ council on the misuse⁸ of drugs and the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee advised against the crackdown.

　　同时人们常聚集食用叶片的的“marfashes（提供阿拉伯茶的店）”也逐渐滋生出激进主义。但政府针对药物滥用的咨询委员会和下议院民政事务委员会的建议都反对镇压。

　　Unusually for a drug ban, prohibition seems likely to stop the use of khat.

　　与一般禁毒令不同的是，禁止似乎更可能意味着对阿拉伯茶的停用。

　　Users must chew great wodges of the leaf, which loses its potency⁹ just a few days after being picked.

　　使用者必须咀嚼大量的在采摘数天后会失去效力的叶片。

　　That makes it uneconomical to smuggle¹⁰.

　　这使得走私该叶片变得不合算。

　　Unlike cannabis, khat cannot be grown easily in Britain.

　　与大麻不同的是，阿拉伯茶在英国很难生长。

　　Before the ban, loads were flown in from Africa and distributed from warehouses¹¹ near Heathrow airport—in 2013 around 15m-worth ($25m) was imported from Kenya.

　　禁令之前，货物从非洲空运，而且分布在伦敦希斯罗机场附近的仓库的货物—2013年价值1500万是从肯尼亚进口的。

　　That trade is likely to dry up.

　　那样的交易很可能逐渐衰退。

　　The broader effects of the ban are less clear.

　　禁令更广泛的影响并不太明显。

　　Some Somalis and Ethiopians hope that khat-chewers will find something more productive to do with their time.

　　一些索马里人和埃塞俄比亚人希望那些咀嚼阿拉伯茶叶的人能利用他们的时间发现更有效益的事情。

　　Supporters of the ban include women who complain that their husbands chew the leaf almost without ceasing.

　　禁令的支持者包括那些抱怨他们的丈夫几乎没有停歇的咀嚼叶片的妇女们。

　　The Home Office points to studies which suggest that the drug is associated with marital¹² problems, poor attendance at work and financial stress.

　　内政部的研究指出了该药与婚姻问题、工作的低出勤率和财政压力的相关性。

　　Less happily, people may turn to other substances.

　　不幸的是，人们可能会另觅他物。

　　“Most people, they just chew it at weekends, chat, watch football,” says an Ethiopian waiter.

　　以为来自埃塞俄比亚的侍者说“许多人只在周末、闲聊和看球赛时咀嚼阿拉伯茶叶片，

　　“I see these women on the TV saying that their husbands chew every day, and I think, your husband, he has no self-control.”

　　我看到那些在电视上说他们丈夫每日都在咀嚼叶片的妇女们，我想，你们的丈夫缺乏的是自我控制力。”

　　Most users will simply drink more coffee, he reckons.

　　他预测，大部分使用者会喝更多的咖啡。

　　But some won't. And other drugs are not difficult to find.

　　但是有些人可能不会这样。并且其他的毒品也不难寻找。

　　1.want to 想去；想要

　　例句:When life gets hard and you want to give up, remember that life is full of ups and downs, and without the downs, the ups would mean nothing.

　　当生活很艰难，你想要放弃的时候，请记住，生活充满了起起落落，如果没有低谷，那站在高处也失去了意义。

　　2.likely to 倾向于；可能要

　　例句:The fires are likely to permanently¹³ deforest the land.

　　这些火灾很可能会彻底毁掉这片土地上的森林。

　　3.dry up 干涸；枯竭；干透

　　例句:The fountain is reputed never to dry up.

　　这口泉号称从不干涸。

　　4.associate with 与交往；与…相联系

　　例句:Mother warned the boys not to associate with bad companions.

　　母亲告诫孩子们别和坏人交往。

1 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

2 stimulant   

n.刺激物，兴奋剂

参考例句：

• It is used in medicine for its stimulant quality.由于它有兴奋剂的特性而被应用于医学。
• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。

3 narcotic   

n.麻醉药，镇静剂；adj.麻醉的，催眠的

参考例句：

• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。
• No medical worker is allowed to prescribe any narcotic drug for herself.医务人员不得为自己开处方使用麻醉药品。

4 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 radicalism   

n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义

参考例句：

• His radicalism and refusal to compromise isolated him. 他的激进主义与拒绝妥协使他受到孤立。
• Education produced intellectual ferment and the temptations of radicalism. 教育带来知识界的骚动，促使激进主义具有了吸引力。

7 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

8 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

9 potency   

n. 效力，潜能

参考例句：

• Alcohol increases the drug's potency.酒精能增加这种毒品的效力。
• Sunscreen can lose its potency if left over winter in the bathroom cabinet.如果把防晒霜在盥洗室的壁橱里放一个冬天，就有可能失效。

10 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

11 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

12 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

13 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。