Photo credit: Everand
In Africa, so many drugs are in use. Apart from marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and meta morphine, | know of glue-sniffing, youth going to get their high from the septic tank, lizard’s faeces, rat’s faeces, etc.
But youth in Sierra Leone have succeeded in introducing another one, which I had never heard of until quite recently.
Kush!
It is a derivative of cannabis mixed with synthetic drugs like fentanyl and tramadol and chemicals like formaldehyde. In some communities, people have dug up graves to grind bones to cut with the drug, seeking chemicals used in embalming.
The country’s president has declared a ban on the drug. He said, “We are witnessing the destructive consequences of kush on our country’s very foundation, our young people.
The drug leaves people lethargic, desperate and ill. It has left many people addicted or even dead. Some develop some mental illness. Meanwhile, there is only one psychiatric hospital in the country.
However, a nonprofit organization, the Social Linkages for Youth Development, is trying to fight drug use. It relies on former users of the drug to help educate young people about it.
The drug is so affordable that a lot of youths are hooked on it. The trash-strewn streets are lined with boys slumped in addiction. To complicate matters, healthcare services are severely limited in the country. This is because the country is so dirt poor that it is one of the poorest in the world, even though it has received huge donor funding over the years.
A frustrated community has set up what it calls a treatment centre, but harsh measures are used.
Addicts are locked up in a room for months and are only allowed to use the washroom. When they cannot get the drug, they come to their senses. The volunteers seize people at their families’ request. Sometimes, the clients are chained to prevent them from escaping. This is common in West Africa. There’s little padding against the concrete floor and walls and little to do apart from confronting their craving.
The place is called the Bombay Community. Because of the dearth of space and other facilities, it has treated about 80 people so far.
