By ADAMA CONTEH
232NEWS, FREETOWN
The Senior Specialist Psychologist Global Mental Health, Dr Abdual Jalloh has said that 60% of people that are affected by kush are secondary schools’ pupils, 11% are university students and 17% are in Urban areas.
He gave these statistics that at the usual government press conference and civic education platform on Tuesday 22nd August at the Foreign Affairs Building at Tower Hill.
Dr Abdul Jalloh said that drug is an international issue a as it is all over the Globe, pointing out that it’s not only Sierra Leone that is suffering from it.
He explained the different kinds of kush that people are taking ranging from Jagaban kush, foot sour, and Synthetic kush, advising Sierra Leoneans that the issues of kush should be a concern for everybody because of the chemical which they used in producing it and which is affecting the brains of those consuming it.
He said that at clubhouses, people take kush to make them feel good, noting that, taking the kush always leads to loss of memory, violence conduct, hallucinations, organ damage, liver damage, swelling of feet and suicide.
“We need to support those taking the kush so that they will stop taking it because the death rate from kush has increased,” he explained.
He explained that both male and female are taking kush and that there is no amount of drug that will cure a kush addict but only counselling and the will of the individual to rehabilitate himself, adding that, beating of patients is not lawful and it is equal to human rights abuse.
He stated that it is untrue that Kush is imported into the country but that it is locally made and one can use any kind of leaf to produce it.
Minister of Health Dr Austin Demby, said that the President has appointed a Special Adviser of Mental Health to look at the drug issue in Sierra Leone but cautioned that it takes the society as a whole to abort the issue of kush in the country.
He talked about the formula that they use in the production of kush which is Formalin, explaining that formalin is a chemical that they use at the hospital to inject the dead but people are now using it in the production of kush.
The Minister said that Government has employed more nurses in the mental health sector, advising that people should show compassion to the victims.
Civil Society Activist Matilda Ekan Sonsiama said that the police officers that should be arresting the people producing and selling kush are the same ones protecting them.
