Liberians are concerned about the widespread use and unabated inundation of two dangerous substances on the market and the huge impacts they are having on the country's youthful generation.
Kush and Zombie, regarded by many as the newest killers or destroyers, have become daily diet for young people with some of them being turned into societal outcasts and fondly referred to as zogos, regardless of the destruction they are causing them.
Slum as well as well-up communities are seeing young people dying daily from the use of Kush while others are developing swollen feet which eventually developed into incontrollable sores on their legs.
Liberia began witnessing the plague of Kush during the administration of former President George Weah, and most Liberians held the view that the government was solely behind the importation of the killer substance, which is said to have originated from neighboring Sierra Leone.
The claims that the Weah government was in the know of the drug inundating the bailiwick of the country and taking young people to their early graves was hinged on its perpetual failure or inability to act, in spite of the huge sum of money provided to the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA), the arm of government responsible to fight plague of drug and other dangerous substances.
Reports of young people taking Kush and losing their lives day by day became a national cry, but with little efforts to confront the issue head-on. However, in the latter part of 2022, the Weah government took steps to address the issue by opening facilities where young drug users were rehabilitated and de-intoxicated.
As if the situation would have been put under control under a new administration, Liberians seem to be witnessing complete hike in the use and proliferation of the killer substance.
Last week, this paper reported how communities in and around Monrovia are seeing many young people dying daily, with the Borough of New Kru Town being the hardest hit.
In a single day, about three young people lost their lives to what many claimed was a Kush-related deaths that left their relatives completely stunned.
According to latest reports gathered by this paper, two young boys, one a twelve-grade student, lost their lives in succession, Friday and Saturday, in the Brewerville Community after taking in the substance.
According to citizens, what is more scaring is the advent of Zombie, another substance that is getting proliferated, which is also causing much more visible health hazards for young people.
Apart from Kush which kills instantly at times, Zombie is said to be causing young people swollen feet which later burst into big sores on the feet.
"In the next decades, we have plenty crippled young people in Liberia because of Zombie. It is giving them sores on their feet and yet they continue to take it. Most of them, now a days, are seeing with their feet covered with clothes," remarked Francis B. Jones, a resident of Brewerville.
Jones described the situation very unfortunate and a complete setback for the country, adding that the problem could reach an alarming proportion if nothing tangible is done.
Several citizens, weighing in on the bizarre problem, said both the former and current administrations shared responsibilities in the manner the problem has grown.
Prince Richard, in an interview with this paper, recalled how Kush messed many children up in ways that left parents heartbroken, adding that while the Kush situation had not been resolved, another substance, Zombie has surfaced.
"Lots of youth are dying every day from this notorious Zombie drug," he said, while taking swipe at former President Weah who promised to get the substance out of the market, but that the situation only got worst in the end.
"With the plague of Zombie, it only tells one that the children and people of Liberia are no longer save," Prince emphasized.
"I said citizens are no longer save in their country simply because of the increase of drugs on the market; the past government tried to do something lately, but yet it still continues. There is a way our youth take it in as if they are taking in food. Worst of all, they are not only smoking it, but also using it as candy and putting it in any kinds of food," Richard narrated.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Adding to Prince Richard, Madam Mary Kollie disclosed that the country has failed in fighting drug and other narcotic substances, making reference to the too many ghettos in Monrovia and across the country.
Mary acknowledged that Kush was the order of the day during the time of former president George Weah, but under the new administration, it is Zombie causing havoc.
"If the country cannot ensure the enforcement of drug laws, then there is no need to have LDEA because drug is the number one issue in Liberia," she said.
Also, a young Liberian plying his trade down Waterside agreed that the drugs rate in Liberia is one of the highest in Liberia.
Just as Prince Richard and Mary Kollie, the young lady who pleaded not be named said the drug rate was high under the former administration, and that the situation is becoming overwhelming under the current administration that came to power to rescue and reset everything it said did not look good for the country.
According to her, just as Kush was to former President Weah, Zombie is now to President Boakai.
