SIERRA LEONE DRUG ADDICTION

Kush drug takes 'devastating toll' on Sierra Leone communities

epa11314002 A general view of shacks and residential buildings in Syke Street in Freetown, Sierra Leone, 25 April 2024 (issued 02 May 2024). Kush, a synthetic drug that combines several highly addictive chemicals, including fentanyl, has been a pervasive issue in Sierra Leone for years. On 04 April 2024, Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio declared a 'national emergency' on kush. In a televised address to the nation, the president stated that the 'deadly kush, which knows no boundaries of class, ethnicity, gender or religion, is taking a devastating toll on our communities, tearing apart families and depriving us of future leaders'. Bio also acknowledged that Sierra Leone was experiencing a 'surge in kush consumption' and 'escalating fatalities among users'. The Bio Government has created a National Task Force on Drugs and Substance Abuse to help young people make healthy choices and resist drugs. Despite the lack of an official death toll, Freetown's public morgue claims to have counted more than thirty bodies of unidentified youths in recent months, burying them in a mass grave. A portion of Kush sells for 80 to 90 US cents. EPA/PRINCE SAMURA

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