It is no secret that the problem of drug abuse, especially KUSH, and misuse in Sierra Leone has become a national security threat and concern that needs concerted efforts to address, as a matter of urgency.
This appalling situation has not gone unnoticed by the office that is responsible for Drug law enforcement, which is mandated by an act to provide counselling and law enforcement. During the visibility assessment tour by the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency and the Ministry of Social Welfare, to the proposed rehabilitation centre at the police training school, Hastings.
The Commandant in charge of the training facility, Asst. Commissioner of Police Allieu Jalloh, hosted the two very prominent players in the lead drug fight and rehabilitation respectively, to the ‘A’ Billet structure, where the team had a close look at the facility and put mechanisms in place to help save the lives of our youths dying on the streets, due to the menace of drug prevalence in our communities. The Minister and the Executive Director are passionate about the welfare of the youths, which is why they have started making plans to relocate vulnerable youths suffering on the streets of Freetown and other parts of the country to the first-ever state rehabilitation facility to care, treat and reintegrate drug victims, as well as to give them a better life that will eventually make them useful citizens again. Also to restore the once-lost hope in the youths, by rehabilitating them and ensuring that they stay out of drugs and serve as ambassadors of change.
Commissioner Jalloh assured that the rehabilitation facility would be up and running in two weeks, as he immediately began to put plans in place for the renovation, cleaning and putting of all necessary items in place because he believes this is a step in the right direction to put smiles on the faces of parents, whose children have taken to the use of this dangerous draconian drug. He also promised to make partitions for counselling, medical centres, canteen and recreational centres to keep the victims occupied. According to the executive officer of NDLEA, Chief Andrew Jaiah Kaikai ESQ, “Young people are dying. We need a speedy and refocused strategy to see how young people are taken away from the streets as a result of drug intake. But at the moment, it is quite alarming,” he said.
Kush users seem to be everywhere in Sierra Leone, from the slums to well-hilled areas, sitting slumped with their heads lolling and sometimes sleeping while standing up, with sores all over their bodies.
The Minister of Social Welfare, Madam Melrose Kaminty, also stated that, as a government, they are worried about the menace, stressing that drug abuse and addiction have been part of youths in Sierra Leone’s existing social systems, affecting crime rates, hospitalizations, child abuse, and child neglect, frustration, insane, and disability, HIV /AIDS, Scabies and skin diseases, anaemia, pale in colour. She furthered that youths nowadays try various drugs so that they feel different from normal, adding that drugs have become a fashion among youths nowadays, with both boys and girls greatly involved in this habit.
The delegation, led by the Executive Director, Chief Andrew Jaiah Kaikai, also visited the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) headquarters, where he held meetings with the head of the TOCU management on the way forward, especially related to seized consignments (arrest and seizure cases), destruction of drugs in custody, and to inspect the operational routines of the staff at the head office, Hastings. The Executive Director took a tour around the facility, and inspected the seized consignments, and the destruction site, for proper examination of the area for future destruction exercises, one of which is to take place soon.
