A new drug called Kush is presently in the news as it has been creating a dangerous health situation in West Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone, where it is estimated to kill around a dozen people each week, and thousands are being hospitalized. I wish to mention a few facts about Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone, officially known as the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country located in West Africa. It is spread over a land area of 71,740 square kilometers. Sierra Leone has a tropical climate and a variety of environments ranging from savannas to rainforests. According to the 2015 census, Sierra Leone had a population of 7,092,113, with Freetown as the capital and largest city. Around 79 percent of its people follow Islam as a religion (Wikipedia). Anyway, the drug is taken mostly by male people between the ages of 18 and 25. It causes people to fall asleep while walking, fall over, bang their heads against hard surfaces, and walk into moving traffic. It may be mentioned here that Kush should not be confused with the drug of the same name found in the US, which is a mixture of ‘an ever-changing’ host of chemicals sprayed on plant matter and smoked. Kush in Sierra Leone is quite different; it is a mixture of cannabis, fentanyl, tramadol, formaldehyde, and – according to some – ground-down human bones.
It may be mentioned here that cannabis is widely grown in Sierra Leone; the fentanyl is thought to originate in clandestine laboratories in China, where the drug is manufactured illegally and shipped to West Africa. Tramadol has a similar source, namely illegal laboratories across Asia. Formaldehyde, which can cause hallucinations, is also reported in this mixture. The drug is reported in both Guinea and Liberia, which share porous land borders with Sierra Leone, making drug trafficking easy.
Kush costs around five Leones (20 UK pence) per joint, which may be used by two or three people, with up to 40 joints being consumed in a day. This represents a massive spend on drugs and illustrates the addictive nature of the mixture in a country where the annual income per capita is around 500 British pounds sterling. Anyway, it is noteworthy to mention that as for ground human bones, there is no definitive answer about whether or not they occur in the drug, where such bones would come from, or why they might be incorporated into the drug. Some people say that grave robbers provide the bones, but no direct evidence exists. The effects of the drug vary and depend on the user and the drug content. Cannabis causes a wide variety of effects, which include euphoria, relaxation, and an altered state of consciousness. Fentanyl, an extremely potent opioid, produces euphoria and confusion and causes sleepiness, among a wide range of other side effects. Similarly, tramadol, which is also an opioid but less potent than fentanyl (100 mg tramadol has the same effect as 10 mg morphine), results in users becoming sleepy and “spaced out” – disconnected from things happening around them. The danger of the drug is twofold: the risk of self-injury to the drug taker and the highly addictive nature of the drug itself. A further problem is the need to finance the next dose, often achieved through prostitution or criminal activity.
Before concluding, it may be mentioned that controlling or eradicating such bad habits is sine qua non. The legislation alone cannot address the issue. Many of those who attended the very limited rehabilitation centers returned to drug use. Perhaps what is required is an integrated forensic health care system where legislative control is backed up by properly resourced rehabilitation centers supported with a public health and employment program. Also, awareness programmes should be taken up in a massive way to inform people about the harmful effects of the drug.
Prof Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad
References:
1) https://theconversation.com/kush-what-is-this-dangerous-new-west-african-drug-that-supposedly-contains-human-bones-220608
2) https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-01-kush-dangerous-west-african-drug.html#goog
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