Substance Abuse amongst the youths in Sierra Leone is increasing at an alarming rate. Despite of all its social ills and psychoSocial ill effects many youths don't seems to get enough of abusing drugs and psycho-active substances.
Kush was arguably was introduced in Sierra Leone in 2018-2019
is actually a mixture of sythetic chemicals,
Concentrated THC tincture,terpennes,myrcene and
some sources even claim that it is even laced with
Formaldehyde( which is used to preserve dead tissue)
- sprayed unto dried potpourri plant or tobacco
which acts as the base.
The word itself "kush" is a misnomer ,
and was originally used to refer to a more
potent strain/ variety of marijuana.
But rather unfortunately this substance now being
abused by youths is not even organic marijuana but
an "artificial designer drug"-which consists of highly toxic
psychoactive chemicals sprayed unto a base.
As soon as kush came into the scene ,PWUs ( People who use)
quickly nicknamed it " Mad-World" as a reflection to the way
it renders users
in an altered state of reality- that is best described
as "near- madness";causing hallucinations,extra–sensory feelings,
panic attacks,
paranoia ,incoherent
and slurry speech etc.
Kush is 5 to 10 times as expensive and as potent as marijuana-
which before now served as the main "gate-way drug" to
addiction- with the average cost at le 5000.
In a LDC - Less developed Country like Sierra Leone,
with many persons earning less than $1.75 per day ie approximately le 10,000;
buy an illegal drug at such price is exorbitant and an
expensive bad habit.
Said habit is not only unsustainable but also renders users as socio-economic
misfits,who misplace their life's priorities and responsibilities
,which in turn deters their personal wellbeing and no prospect
to Financial savings and reserve in case of a 'rainy day'.
Considering the snowball effect of drug-tolerance,regular users
are rarely satisfied with just one "pack" of kush per day.
According to findings of a research done by the author( Hankx),
many kush smokers use (or rather misuse) whatever money they have on them inorder
to chase the next high and feed the proverbial ""monkey on their backs".
Many user testified to even soughting out loans from friends,family members
just to quench their unholy thirst of addiction.
What an Irony !
Again ironically after said "high" comes the crashing feeling of paranoia,depression,loss of focus,low self-esteem and self hate,guilt,and many a times anti-social behavior. It is quite evident that this prevents any users from being productive and renders him or her lethargic 'couch-potatoes', with little or no inclination to do any beneficial work. Consequently leaving the addicted users to wallow in mediocrity and poverty.
Getting caught with kush in Sierra Leone ,
needless to say is a crime
and carries a hefty fine that is usually
coupled with incarceration.My advice to every bright
and promising youth in Mama Salone is to
" keep off from whatever form of drug/substance abuse,
and stay focused on
activities that will help develop
oneself financially,intellectually and socially.
" It may sound so cliche' but tis True -
For together we can make Mama Salone Great again!
Peace and Love.Stay Safe and Stay Sane!
Hankx Out.