• Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has declared a national emergency on substance abuse following calls on his government to crack down on the rising use of a cheap and sometimes deadly synthetic drug known as kush.

• The highly addictive mix of marijuana, fentanyl and tramadol has caused hundreds of deaths and psychiatrically damaged scores of users since it first appeared in Sierra Leone around four years ago.

• The scale of the threat posed by kush is similar to the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic a decade ago that killed 11,000 people in the country and neighbouring countries.  

• Kush’s low price makes it accessible to disillusioned, unemployed youth in Sierra Leone, where around a quarter of the population lives in poverty.

• Many users suffer drowsiness when they take the drug and end up dying in traffic accidents.

• The drug is also found in the neighbouring West African nation of Liberia.

• Local communities have called on the government to tackle the scourge and help them deal with drug users.

• A task force including government agencies and NGOs would be responsible for prevention, treatment, social services support, law enforcement and community engagement.

• In Sierra Leone, drug trafficking and money laundering remain prevalent at alarming levels, with the country being used as a trans-shipment point from South America/Asia to Europe. 

• Illicit drugs are easily available. They are sold and Sierra Leone is known as one of the transit points for the trans-atlantic illicit drug trade. 

• Common drugs used in Sierra Leone are marijuana, tramadol and to some extent cocaine. 

• Some of their sale points are easily identifiable in neigbhourhoods. 

• Children and young people are vulnerable to alcohol and substance abuse.

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