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Drug traffic fuels addiction among Youths in Sierra Leone: By Ibrahim B. Kamara, Founder & Executive Director- Direct Response (DR).
As the global narcotics trade expands in West Africa, it leaves a trail of addicts in its wake: DR’s Perspective
In recent years, harder drugs - cocaine and, to a lesser extent, heroin - have become increasingly available, authorities and health practitioners say. They blame West Africa's growing role as transit route for the global narcotics trade. Cocaine comes from Latin America and heroin from Southeast Asia, officials explained, and through such countries as Guinea- Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The drugs then continue on to Europe and North America In Sierra Leone the abuse of drugs and alcohol is fueled by illicit trafficking by the underworld. The illicit trafficking continues to fuel by the great demands and purchase of these drugs and worst-case scenario mixed with alcohol by people of all social stratifications. DR is part of The Sierra Leone Alcohol Policy Alliance - SLAPA in a joint Examination with the only National Psychiatric Hospital – Kissy Correctional Center in Freetown (2018) pronounced that about 60-70% of admitted cases to the Sierra Leone Psychiatric Hospital are youths between the ages of 18 and 30. Majority of them are school going and most of them have admitted taking one or more of the following illicit and psychoactive substances:
They are admitted for Drug Induced Psychoses (DIP) due to poor state of physical and mental health including poor hygiene, threatening behaviors, physical and verbal aggression, impulsiveness, sleep disturbances, incoherent thought and speech etc. The revolving door syndrome has been apparent for most of these cases The adverse effects of these drugs include:
Sierra Leone as a country with 7.1Million People do not have a detoxification unit (detox) or a rehab center.
Attention focuses on the medical module at the hospital i.e. treating the symptoms as stated inter earlier.
DR chairs SLAPA (2015-2020) and since SLAPA’s inception in October, 2015, with supports from FoRUT continues with Grand National Advocacy for Alcohol Policy. Our interventions focus on:
The homes and the schools are the primary agents of socialisation and parents, guardians and teachers must make use of this opportunity to shape our children and youths in the best way possible to be safe from drug and alcohol abuse, healthy in mind and body. Lending a patient Listening ears to the children and youth gives them confidence to share their issues and problems. Their concerns and worries should be treated with the utmost attention and where possible solutions worked on so that they would confidently and assertively be able to withstand temptations against the wrong path of drug and other substance abuse. Our approach is to attract miscreants in the society looking for easy prey to indulge in the vice of drug and other substance abuse and even recruit them to become pimps aiding and abetting the trafficking of these illicit drugs.
(in schools): children and youths, who are vying studiously to become our future leaders, to strivewith all the might to resist the temptations even frompeer pressure or experimentation to stay away from substance abuse and grow healthy, safe from this vice
Engaged communities, parents, guardians to be confidants in terms of sharing stressful moments; and referral ways to cope with stressors. Parents, guardians, teachers and significant others, be role models to the children and youths.
to stay healthy, stay safe!!
SLAPA Chairperson
