Jakarta –
Sierra Leone, West Africa, declared a national emergency due to the widespread abuse of the drug kush. Kush is a mixture of addictive psychoactive substances that has been ‘commonly’ used in the country for years.
The President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, said that drugs are a death trap that is causing an existential crisis in his country. One of the medicinal ingredients used to make these drugs is human bones.
“Our country is currently faced with a real threat due to the negative impact of drugs and substance abuse, especially the harmful synthetic drug kush,” said President Bio, quoted from BBCSaturday (6/4/2024).
This condition means that security at cemeteries has been tightened to stop drug users who are addicted to digging up skulls. Ground human bones are one of the many ingredients used to make kush.
It has become a common sight on Sierra Leone’s street corners that many young men are sitting with their bodies swollen from kush abuse.
“I don’t like doing this, but it’s very difficult for me to leave it because I enjoy it,” one recovering former user told the BBC.
Until now there are no official figures regarding the number of cases of kush abuse, but doctors in Sierra Leone say that in recent months hundreds of young people in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, have died from organ failure due to kush.
Misuse of kush has also had a major impact on the condition of youth in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone’s only psychiatric hospital said between 2020 and 2023, kush-related patient admissions jumped nearly 4 thousand percent to reach 1,865.
President Bio highlighted the increase in deaths due to kush abuse in his country. He directed officials to form a National Task Force on Drug and Substance Abuse whose primary focus is ‘combating’ the kush crisis.
“The centers will be established in each district and adequately staffed by trained professionals to provide care and support to people addicted to drugs,” stressed President Bio.
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2024-04-07 00:00:22
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