Heillie Santana, 12th Grade

Recently, Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio declared a national emergency on substance abuse due to a new drug called Kush. Describing the drug as a “death trap,” the President highlighted its role in posing an “existential crisis.” He emphasized, “The destructive consequences of Kush on our country’s very foundation: our young people.”

Kush is a highly addictive concoction of marijuana, fentanyl, tramadol, formaldehyde, and, shockingly, human bones. This drug is produced by criminal gangs and drug traffickers with international connections. Both fentanyl and formaldehyde are believed to originate from covert laboratories in Asia, where the narcotics are illicitly synthesized and transported to West Africa. Human bones used in the mix are stolen from cemeteries by grave robbers, with their sulfur content allegedly enhancing the drug’s potency.

In the streets of Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, groups of mostly young men are often seen slumped in alleyways, hunched over with closed eyes, swollen limbs, and lolling heads. The dirt-cheap drug offers an escape to these young unemployed and poverty-stricken men. “It makes you forget,” says 21-year-old Kush user Salifu Kamara, who estimates that around 80% of the young people in his neighborhood are now addicted. “We’re under such strain. There’s no work. There’s nothing here.”

Elizabeth Sankoh, frustrated by Kush’s impact on her community, notes, “Men don’t help their families anymore. They’re always smoking at all hours of the day. And they spend all the money on Kush,” she claims. Sankoh supports her family by selling rice bowls with spicy cassava leaf sauce on the street. Recently, customers have started creating excuses to avoid paying and stealing her plastic spoons and bowls after eating.

“They just want to sell them so they can buy more Kush,” she laments.

“I get no respect in the streets. No one cares about me, no family, no friends,” says Alhaji, a 22-year-old addicted to the drug after a friend offered him a joint two years ago. “I went to the ghetto to buy another and smoke it. ‘This tastes so sweet, can I get more?’ That’s how it started. Now, I am an addict. But I am trying to quit, and I will quit by the grace of God. This is not me; this is not the real me.” Before his addiction, he had aspired to become a doctor.

As many as 63% of patients have been admitted to Sierra Leone’s only Psychiatric Hospital. A recovering addict, with bandages around his ankle, told BBC News, “I don’t like doing this, but I cannot stop because I enjoy it.”

Kadiatu Max Kanu, manager of a charity group called “House of Happiness,” provides meals to those living on the streets, where tensions often run high. “Wait, be patient! This food is for you,” she yells to a crowd arguing over a plate of rice and stew. Besides caring for addicts in the streets, Kadiatu also looks after infant addicts, including a baby suffering from withdrawal symptoms of Kush. “It’s tormenting him,” she says. “Even when he’s bathed and fed, he still twitches and itches. The doctor says the drugs in his system make him behave like this.” She named him Emmanuel, meaning ‘God is with us’.

Hajartu, Emmanuel’s mother, turned to addiction after becoming homeless due to family issues. Now, she sees her son as the ultimate motivation to become sober and has hope for the future. She left him in the care of the charity for his safety and well-being, aspiring to resit her exams and become a lawyer.

Community members guard their local cemeteries to prevent the theft of their loved ones’ bones for Kush. They have been nicknamed “Friends of the Dead.” David Deen, who leads his community’s ‘Friends of the Dead’ group, shows reporters the damage caused by grave robbers. Now, police guard these cemeteries to protect the dead from Kush addicts.

The spread of the drug to other West African countries could seriously affect the youth population and destabilize these nations.

References:

Trenchard, T. (2024, February 10). Cheap, plentiful and devastating: The synthetic drug kush is walloping Sierra Leone. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2024/02/10/1229662975/kush-synthetic-drug-sierra-leone

Channel 4 News. (2024, January 2). Drug mixed with human bones ravaging Sierra Leone [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKc3SDBoFtA

Fofana, B. U. (2024, April 5). Sierra Leone declares emergency over drug kush – made from human bones. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68742694

Cole, M., Conversation, Cole, M., Conversation, Cole, M., & Conversation. (2024, January 23). Kush, the dangerous new West African drug that supposedly contains human bones. EL PAÍS English. https://english.elpais.com/international/2024-01-23/kush-the-dangerous-new-west-african-drug-that-supposedly-contains-human-bones.html

Reuters. (2024, April 6). Sierra Leone declares national emergency after steep rise in use of deadly synthetic drug kush. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/06/africa/sierra-leone-emergency-kush-intl/index.html