By Ebi Kesiena
Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia are grappling with an increasing number of young people becoming addicted to a substance known as kush or K2. Abuse of the drug has already killed several people in the region.
The recently emerged drug is making terrible inroads among young people in west Africa. It is a substance rolled up and smoked like a cigarette or cannabis.
In Sierra Leona, the Social media is awash with photos and video clips showing young men, including security officers, caught in embarrassing situations after consuming the drug.
According to Nyamacoro Sarata Silla, a retired nurse, this newest drug called kush is rampant in Sierra Leonean communities as it offers youths a mirage of a perfect life while many of these users live in poverty and despair.
“When people have taken it, they present themselves in a very strange way. For example, they can be walking in the middle of the street and suddenly fall asleep standing up.”
Also, Ibrahim Hassan Koroma, founder of an NGO called the Mental Watch Advocacy Network stated that Young people are dying as a result of consuming kush.
“We need a speedy and refocused strategy to see how young people are taking from this drug intake. But at the moment it is quite alarming,” he said.
Guinea and Sierra Leone share a porous border. Many Guineans blame Sierra Leonean drug traffickers for smuggling kush into the country.
Abdoulaye Sangare, a Guinean police officer working in the fight against drugs, said they had recently arrested four people suspected of trafficking 1,500 grams of kush in Guinea.
As Guinea, is also battling to contain an increase in the consumption of kush, authorities say that more than ten young men have died after taking the substance. Many others are undergoing medical treatments due to side effects.
Former kush addict Alpha Barry said “I smoked kush with one of my friends. We were taken to the hospital unconscious.
“My friend was chewing his tongue until he died while we were at the hospital. So I’m warning the Guinean youth to avoid kush.
“Kush is something that destroys a man. It kills and has killed many people in Guinea. He said.
The drug kush is a locally manufactured drug. The synthetically made drug surfaced half a dozen years ago, although its composition is sketchy.
Manufactured and distributed by criminal gangs, the drug is an amalgamation of the various chemicals and plants that mimic the natural (cannabinoid) THC found in cannabis.
As Sierra Leone prepares for national polls this year, there are concerns that the rate at which kush is consumed might lead to violence in the upcoming elections.
