They’re training their bones to get high.
In Sierra Leone, addicts who dig up human bones as part of their recipe for the drug Kush have become a national emergency and are gradually moving to other West African countries.
Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio appeared on national television on Thursday about the drug scourge, with police forced to monitor graveyards in the capital Freetown to prevent young people from digging up remains.
“Our country is currently facing an existential crisis due to the devastating effects of drugs and drug abuse, especially synthetic drugs,” Bio said.
One of the main ingredients of Kush is crushed human bones, to which other substances such as harmful chemicals, cannabis, herbs, and disinfectants are added to increase the effectiveness of the medicine. The Daily Mail reported on Friday.
The drug, which is fairly cheap to obtain and produces a long, hypnotic high that takes users out of reality for several hours, first appeared in this country about six years ago.
Hundreds of young people have recently died from organ failure related to dangerous drugs. One Freetown doctor told the BBC..
The number of admissions to Sierra Leone psychiatric hospitals due to Kush-related illnesses increased by almost 4,000% between 2020 and 2023, with most of the victims being young people under the age of 25, the Daily Mail reported. .
The country’s only drug rehabilitation center in Freetown opened this year with just 100 beds, the BBC reported.
Abu Bakar, 25, an aspiring musician, gave up on his dreams after being turned into a “zombie” by Kush.
“I couldn’t concentrate on studying because of the medication.” Bahar told Channel 4 News. “I couldn’t concentrate on writing because of the drugs. I couldn’t concentrate on anything because of the drugs.”
He is currently homeless and living in a landfill on the outskirts of Freetown, reportedly one of more than a thousand others staying there.
Another addict revealed, “Kush transports you to another world where you don’t know yourself.”
“It’s like there’s a demon in there. They see their friends and people around them dying and they still accept it.
