By Sorie Ibrahim Fofanah
Updating the public about the spate of drug abuse in Sierra Leone, the Minister of Health, Dr. Austin Demby has, in a Town hall conversation on how to fight against Kush, disclosed that between 2020 to 2023 they recorded an increase of over 3,866% of Kush users across the country.
Demby made this statement on 2nd April this year at the Bintumani Conference Hall –venue for a Town hall meeting on how to combat kush and other harmful drugs.
He maintained that in 2020 they had recorded 222 cases of drug users in all their hospital services across the country but that by 2023, that number increased to 2,955.
"Over 1,231% increase," he added, of which he noted 47 of those were "specifically" Kush associated in 2020, and that the number increased to 1,865 by 2023. "An increase of 3,868%," he emphasised.
He described the issue of kush as a "very big problem," and called for collective responsibility in the fight against the deadly substance.
He recalled collection of kush samples that were found to be made up of Tramadol, cocaine, morphines, and diazepam. "What we are trying to do is to work with the Pharmacy Board to give close attention to those normal drugs which people divert to make synthetic kush and other substances" he noted.
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