Sierra Leone is dealing with a national emergency as locals say users hooked on “zombie drug” Kush are digging up remains to extract human bones.
Kush is concocted from an unusual mix of herbs, harmful chemicals, disinfectants and human bones that contain sulphur and boost the drug’s potency.
This week, the country’s President Julius Maada Bio declared a state of emergency over drug abuse in the country, which has left swathes of communities overrun by dependency.
Authorities are now tasked with the grim duty of protecting graveyards in Freetown, the nation’s capital.
Grave desecration has become a lucrative business for dealers who plunder “thousands” of resting places to supply the skeletons needed for the drug, according to local reports.
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Sierra Leone currently has only one drug rehabilitation centre, situated in Freetown, which opened earlier this year with a capacity of merely 100 beds.
Youngsters are resorting to kush to “escape the harsh realities of life” in a West African nation that ranks among the world’s poorest and where youth unemployment is a staggering 60 percent, the Telegraph reported.
Amongst those affected is 21-year-old school dropout Amara Kallon who shared his struggles with the Telegraph, saying he smokes kush to “forget his problems”.
He confessed: “I love it. It makes me feel happy for a moment, enough to forget my worries and societal problems.”
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