By Umaru Fofana
There is an alarming increase in the spate of the use in Sierra Leone of the psychoactive substance known as Kush. The authorities and the United Nations have expressed concern especially because those seeking help are mostly young people who are in or dropped out of secondary school, with 73% of them living in urban or peri-urban areas. Many face huge mental health issues or are dying.
The synthetic drug is the most widely-used substance in the country, according to a report by the West Africa Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (WENDU), which Politico has seen.
The report, which covers 2020 – 2022, shows that marijuana-related mental health cases presented to the Kissy Psychiatric Hospital dropped, while Kush-induced cases increased exponentially by more than 2,000% in the same three-year period.
While in 2020 only 47 patients presented to the Hospital due to the use of Kush, that number increased to 1,101 in 2022, accounting for 63% of all mental health cases received at the Hospital last year.
Of the remaining cases, 30% were Tramadol-related mental health issues, which also increased by more than 1,000% in the three years under review.
Alarming as that may be, experts say it represents a tiny fraction of the real extent of the situation because most of those who develop complications do not report to hospital.
“The vast majority languish on the streets and die in street corners and poor homes as a consequence”, says a senior health ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Many places visited across the country – in even rural areas – show a widespread use of the substance, which is wreaking havoc on the young. Many people contacted by phone in remote areas said Kush is everywhere.
The WENDU data says 92% of drug users in Sierra Leone are men. 62% of them are between the ages of 20 and 29 years old, with nearly 10% between 14 and 19 years old.
One third of them are unemployed youth, with 40% being high school or university students. 73% of them live in urban or peri-urban areas. But a good number of the users are also said to be professionals.
It is not clear how Kush is prepared but it “has been associated with so many components such as formalin, acetone and the Kumbijara leaf and other unknown chemicals,” says psychiatrist, Dr Abdul Jalloh.
He says the effects of inhaling the substance is devastating in both mental and physical health terms. “It leads to death because it affects organs of the body such as the kidney, liver and the heart,” he says.
Dr Jalloh adds that some of the users present with swollen body and skin rashes. This has been a common feature lately among young men especially on the streets, who have developed sores on their arms and limbs leading to swelling of the body and eventual death, says another doctor at Connaught hospital.
An official at the Freetown central mortuary at Connaught Hospital told Politico that recent autopsy findings had suggested Kush as the cause of many deaths.
UN Resident Coordinator in Sierra Leone, Babatunde Ahonsi expresses concern over the Kush crisis. He told Politico that young people were already faced with a myriad of challenges including livelihood and the lack of gainful employment. “Combining that with Kush makes it daunting. It must be addressed, the root causes tackled and the supplies disrupted”.
He expressed concern that the fact that Kush was cheaper than marijuana made it more easily affordable, making the situation worrisome.
“The future is at risk [with the country’s] most important asset – its youthful human resources – faced with Kush”, Ahonsi lamented.
Such is how seriously the UN Family takes the matter that they discussed it during their meeting yesterday.
“We have to prioritise the wellbeing and productive management of young people,” he said, adding that prevention was key, emphasizing that tackling the production and supplies was most urgent.
He called on the law enforcement authorities to find “those behind it to face the full force of the law”.
He warned that no matter how despondent the young people were, Kush “is not the solution” and that it was just a temporary remedy with more devastating consequences on the user and the general society.
He said all hands must be on deck to tackle it with young people, parents, school administrators and religious leaders collaborating.
This is a point underscored by health minister, Dr Austin Demby who referred to the Kush crisis as a “national scourge” which “would require an all-of-society approach.
He said government was “very very concerned that this is happening in our country and to young people.” He called for a concerted effort of all, “from drug regulation and enforcement, to social welfare, interdenominational religious engagement, youth, commerce, the security sector and most importantly family support system”.
Some young men who use Kush told Politico that they were using it “to forget about our problems”. One of them, Allie – not his real name – looked haggard, emaciated and in a trance. He had an open wound on his bare left foot.
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