By Aminata Abu Bakarr Kamara
In communities across Sierra Leone today, a silent crisis is unfolding one that reaches far beyond addiction and crime, the surge in the use of kush and tramadol among young people is not just a story of substance abuse; it is a mirror reflecting our deep-seated neglect of mental health and the stigma that continues to surround it.
For years, discussions about mental health in Sierra Leone have been clouded by silence and superstition, when someone begins to act strangely or shows signs of emotional distress, the instinct of many is to label them as possessed or mad, such individuals are often mocked, isolated, or even chained rather than treated or supported; this collective attitude has turned mental health into one of the most ignored public health concerns of our time.
The reality confronting us today is sobering. Behind the smoke of kush and the haze of tramadol lies a generation struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma, and hopelessness, many of these young men and women who resort to drugs are not criminals; they are victims of a broken system that offers little mental health support, limited job opportunities, and few safe spaces for emotional healing, they turn to substances that numb their pain temporarily but destroy them gradually.
It is time for Sierra Leone to face this crisis head-on. government, civil society, faith leaders, and the media must work together to change the narrative around mental health, we must begin to treat mental illness as a health issue, not a moral failure or a source of shame, awareness campaigns should be launched in schools, mosques, churches, and communities to promote understanding, early intervention, and compassion.
The fight against kush and tramadol cannot be won through police raids and arrests alone. It requires a holistic approach one that combines law enforcement with social reintegration, counseling, and rehabilitation. Mental health care must be integrated into our primary health system, and support services should be accessible and affordable, especially in drug-affected communities like Freetown, Makeni, and Bo.
The tragic sight of kush users sleeping on street corners, under bridges, and in unfinished buildings is a visible symptom of a much deeper problem, while Sierra Leone’s health system has improved in other areas, it remains painfully under-equipped to handle mental health issues. The country has only a handful of trained psychiatrists, and most mental health units are underfunded and poorly resourced. Families are often left to cope alone, turning to traditional or spiritual remedies that may comfort the soul but do not necessarily heal the mind.
The stigma attached to mental illness worsens the crisis, many are afraid to seek help for fear of ridicule or rejection, even when they do, help is often out of reach, the result is that thousands especially youth suffer in silence until they find escape in dangerous substances, if we continue to treat mental health as taboo, Sierra Leone will keep losing its brightest minds to drugs, despair, and neglect, this stigma is not only silencing individuals; it is costing the nation its future.
The time to act is now, we must replace judgment with empathy, ignorance with awareness, and stigma with support, only then can we begin to heal the wounds that kush and tramadol have laid bare and build a Sierra Leone that truly values the mental well-being of its people.
Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Wednesday, 19th November 2025 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
