Kath (botanic name: Catha edulis) are the sheets of a spread bush from Yemen and Abyssinia which are chewed or converted to tea.
The main active substance of the sheets is the alkaloid Cathine (Norpseudoephedrine) as well as furthermore the unstable Cathinone (&alphy;-Aminopropiophenone) and approx. 40 further alkaloids (Cathedulines).
The pharmacological effect of the Cathine resembles the amphetamines; it exceeds the energizing effect of coffee. At the same time it suppresses the productivity and leads to apathy and lethargy.
In Yemen led the Kath abuse connected with additional consumption of alcohol to an economic fall. In Europe the drug is nearly unknown. In the USA the structurally used Methcathinon (n-Methylaminopropiophenon) emerged as designer drug, whose hydrochloride was called Cat.