The West African nation of Sierra Leone has begun stationing armed police outside of cemeteries
in an effort to thwart drug addicts from attempting to plunder human
remains for ingredients to be used in the creation of a potent
psychoactive “zombie” drug whose spread has gripped the country.
The move comes after President Julius Maada Bio declared a national emergency
to combat the widespread abuse of the locally concocted drug nicknamed
“kush,” which is a dangerous mix of marijuana, fentanyl, tramadol,
formaldehyde and, in some instances, ground up human bones.
The drug was first reported in Sierra Leone in 2018. It is known to give a hypnotic high that can last for several hours.
In recent years, abuse of kush has surged and has become an
unprecedented challenge for the country, leading to hundreds of deaths
and severe psychiatric harm to thousands of other people.
“Our country is currently faced with an existential threat due to
the ravaging impact of drugs and substance abuse, particularly the
devastating synthetic drug kush,” warned Bio.
In an effort to stymie the manufacturing of kush, the government
has deployed armed police to safeguard cemeteries in the capital of
Freetown. Reports indicate that graverobbers have been raiding burial
sites under the cover of darkness.
The alarming trend of using ground-up human bones has prompted
intensified efforts by law enforcement to combat grave robbery,
particularly in the Racecourse Cemetery in Freetown, where the local gang known as the “Kush Boys” have been implicated in the tampering of graves.
Drug abuse in Sierra Leone reaching catastrophic levels
Dr. Harold Thomas of the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation underscored
the severity of the situation, with admissions to psychiatric hospitals
skyrocketing by nearly 4,000 percent between 2020 and 2023.
The entire nation of nearly nine million people currently only
has one functioning drug rehabilitation center in Freetown, which is a
100-bed facility hurriedly set up in an army training center earlier
this year to deal with the drug abuse crisis. It has been described as
“more of a holding center than a rehab” due to the lack of proper
facilities for caring for addicts.
The government is implementing a strategy of breaking the drug
supply chain through “investigations, arrests and prosecutions.” Bio has
also set up a task force to eradicate the drug and to create centers in
every district “adequately staffed by trained professionals to offer
care and support to people with drug addiction.”
If Sierra Leone is unable to get its crisis under control,
experts warn that the drug’s allure, coupled with widespread
unemployment and conflicts across West Africa, could make the drug
spread across the entire region.
Dr. Abdul Jalloh of the Sierra Leone Psychiatric Hospital said
current government efforts, including the declaration of a state of
emergency, are “the right step” and will be “crucial in addressing drug
use.”
Watch this video showing how drug addiction has turned people into “zombies” in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.
(Article by Richard Brown republished from NaturalNews.com)
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Author: Planet Today
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