<![CDATA[ Droga sintética kush mata milhares de pessoas na África Ocidental desde 2022 ]]>

The synthetic drug kush has killed thousands of people in West Africa since 2022, mainly in Sierra Leone, its epicenter, according to a report by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.

According to the study "Kush in Sierra Leone: The Growing Challenge of Synthetic Drugs in West Africa", this drug, which originated in Sierra Leone and quickly spread to countries in the region, namely Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Guinea-Conakry, Gambia and Senegal, "has devastating effects".

In April 2024, the health impacts of kush were so severe that the presidents of Sierra Leone and Liberia declared a national emergency due to drug use, an unprecedented measure, the organization explained in a statement.

The global initiative carried out chemical tests on kush samples collected in Sierra Leone and Guinea-Bissau for research and found that "more than 50% of the samples contain nitazene, a highly addictive and deadly synthetic opioid, comparable to fentanyl, while the other half contain synthetic cannabinoids", the entity indicated in the study.

Guinea-Bissau was one of the countries that most recently reported the appearance of kush in retail drug markets, but consumption remained more limited and "not many deaths were recorded", he explained.

"Some of these substances are imported from China, the Netherlands and, most likely, the United Kingdom, through sea routes and air and postal services. It is not clear whether the kush ingredients exported from European countries include nitazenes or just synthetic cannabinoids," he contextualized.

The drug market "used to be tightly controlled by large groups, but is now increasingly fragmented," with smaller players setting up their own operations and refraining from violence "because it is bad for business," according to a report cited in the study.

The global initiative calls for "urgent, coordinated action on three fronts: 1) improving monitoring, early warning systems, testing and information sharing in West Africa; 2) disrupting supply chains from China, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as at points of entry into Sierra Leone; and 3) mitigating the harmful effects of kush consumption."

Thus, "due to the fragmented nature of the kush market, coordinated action is urgently needed," he recommended.

Kush is a cheap, highly addictive and increasingly deadly drug that mirrors the rapid infiltration of synthetic drugs into West Africa, he noted.

“The influx of cheap, addictive, harmful and locally mixed synthetic drugs is changing West Africa in lasting ways,” he said.

According to the study, new drug markets are emerging and serious health risks are difficult to combat in an ill-prepared health system, with more and more young people in West Africa - a growing region - being affected in all socio-economic aspects.

“In short, kush is likely just the beginning of a larger and looming drug problem in West Africa,” he lamented.

However, kush-related deaths appear to have declined in the second quarter of 2024, although consumption remains high, he noted.

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime is "a network of professionals working on the front lines in the fight against the illicit economy and criminal actors," he explained.