The main ingredients in Sierra Leone’s kush are synthetic opioids and cannabinoids, report finds

DAKAR – A brand new report launched Tuesday by an anti-transnational crime group has recognized the core chemical elements of kush, an artificial drug that has swept by means of Sierra Leone and the area previously few years.

The report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime carried out the primary recognized testing of the most typical types of kush obtainable in Sierra Leone and neighboring West African international locations and located that it contained both nitazenes or artificial cannabinoids.

“Nitazenes are potent and infrequently lethal artificial opioids which have unfold quickly throughout world retail drug markets, together with European international locations, notably since 2022,” the report reads. “Illustratively, in 2023 in Estonia and Latvia, 48% and 28% of drug deaths, respectively, had been attributable to nitazenes. One of many nitazenes detected in kush is 25 instances stronger than fentanyl.”

Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio final yr declared a conflict on kush, calling it an epidemic and a national threat. He launched a job drive on drug and substance abuse, promising to guide a authorities strategy targeted on prevention and therapy involving regulation enforcement and group engagement.

“We consider kush is the primary case of nitazenes penetrating West Africa’s drug markets. This displays world tendencies, which present nitazenes and related fatalities surging globally since late 2022,” the report acknowledged.

When contacted by telephone, one of many authors of the report, Lucia Hen Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo, described the trail that kush is taking to reach in West Africa.

Initially shipped as a completed product, more and more precursor chemical compounds are ordered from China by way of on-line websites like Alibaba after which mixed in labs in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown. As soon as mixed, the now psychoactive liquid is sprayed onto plant materials meant to be smoked and bought as kush.

There are persistent rumors in regards to the components in kush starting from tramadol, a standard ache reliever, to human bones. Nevertheless, the report is cautious to state that researchers uncovered no proof of both whereas testing numerous samples.

Since its introduction into the retail drug market of West Africa, kush has soared in recognition as deaths related to it have additionally soared, in line with the report. The artificial opioids and cannabinoids throughout the medicine are extremely addictive and have ravaged Sierra Leone lately.

The drug has impressed native corruption, which has turn out to be endemic inside some neighborhoods of Freetown, with ‘cartels’ the native title for kush smoking bars, typically popping up inside meters (yards) of police stations and the police tasking bar homeowners with group policing of their very own patrons.

As demand for the addictive elements of kush has elevated, the report describes how overdose charges have elevated because of new recipes and elevated utilization.

“Nitazenes began being linked to a fabric variety of overdose deaths within the US, and had been first detected by the EU early warning system in 2019,” the report stated. “Since then, their presence has expanded to South America, Asia and Oceania, with world detections and overdose incidents rising sharply.”