Sierra Leone: Government vows to tackle drug abuse, declares national emergency

In response to the rising spate of drug abuse in Sierra Leone, President Julius Maada Bio has declared a national emergency following calls on his government to crack down on the escalating use of a cheap and sometimes deadly synthetic drug popularly known as kush.

The government says scores of people have died while others are psychiatrically damaged due to the substance abuse that initially appeared in Sierra Leone around four years ago.

There are no official figures on the exact number of casualties from the use of the substance.

However, Sierra Leone Psychiatric Hospital, the country’s only institution of its kind, disclosed that between 2020 and 2023, admissions linked to kush surged by almost 4,000% to reach 1,865

The highly addictive substance is made of a mix of marijuana, tramadol, and human bones.

Reports say security has been tightened in cemeteries to stop addicts digging up skeletons from graves.

In an announcement on national television, President Bio highlighted the destructive consequences of Kush on the country’s very foundation, which is the young people.

He assured that a national task force on substance abuse, comprised of members from all sectors of society and overseen by a presidential advisory council, would be established to carry out a five-step approach to a drug-free future.