Alarming!!! 1,865 Patients with Kush, 701 With Tramadol and 127 With Canabis Sativa …Chief Medical Officer Reveals
The Chief Medical Officer in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Sarty Kanneh, has revealed to Parliament that the rate at which kush is destroying the young people is very alarming, adding that majority of the victims of the narcotic drugs are between the ages of 20 to 34 years old.
He disclosed the statistics available for the number of people taking kush and other narcotic drugs nationwide, underscoring that in 2023 alone, the Kissy Psychiatric hospital recorded 1,865 patients with kush, 701 with tramadol and 127 with cannabis sativa. He further asserted that the Health sector is not strong enough to handle the kush issue.
The Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Alhaji Mohamed Haji-Kella toed the line with the Chief Medical Officer and appealed for political direction, resources and collaboration to fight against drug abuses in the country.
He said the rehabilitation centre at the Peace mission Training center for drug addicts has limited space for only 50 people and appealed for financial and human resources.
“The Ministry currently has over 300 young people who were brought to them by parents of kush victims and these patients are on waiting list to be taken into the Rehabilitation centre”, says the Minister, noting that these victims are presently living in porous military base awaiting to be given them to the actual rehabilitation they need.
The Inspector General of Police, William Fayia Sellu, confirmed the arrest of a total of one hundred and thirty-nine (139) cartons of tramadol in the last couple of months, and stated that the first Police arrest was a Nigerian with thirty-seven (37) cartons of tramadol in Bo while the one hundred and two (102) cartons were intercepted at the Quay.
He urged Parliament to enact legislation allowing full inspection of all containers entering the country, asserting how this measure will help to curb the importation of dangerous drugs like Kush.
Sellu outlined challenges the police faced with the fight against drug abuses including incommensurate fines levied against convicts and the withholding of intelligence by members of the public. “The dealers of these drugs are people who reside in our communities; they are tenants to some members of the communities, and so if they want to help the situation, they should provide us with intelligence”, said Inspector General of Police, adding that the Police cannot be everywhere at the same time, thus, they need collaboration from members of the public to get rid of drug dealers.
He revealed that the first quantity of marshmallow(raw material used for the production of kush) was intercepted at the freight section of the Airport, adding that the Security sector has realized that drug importation has shifted to the maritime domain known as the sea corporative project.
Due to their robust measures, he said, several arrest were made and assured that they have stepped up to address the kush menace in the country.
Key dealers of the drug, he added, has been arrested citing notorious drug baron, Biggie Ten, who has been in detention for awhile now.
He therefore recommended for the establishment of the fastrack court to speedily deal with drugs cases and the imposition of stiff penalties.
However, the outbreak of the kush has led many SierraLeoneans to call on the President to declare a public Health Emergency. “Government has to acknowledge that we have a crisis at hand and tackle this like the emergency it is”, says a concerned SierraLeonean, maintaining that “the state is failing young people, Ministry of Health can’t even issue some sort of warning or pretend to do something; the approach across government to deal with this crisis has been haphazard at best”, liked minded continued and call for national coordinated response towards this crisis.
