Sierra Leone’s government has declared a public health emergency following the discovery of synthetic drug kush containing opioids up to 25 times more potent than fentanyl. While efforts to curb the crisis advance, rights groups highlight a stark gender gap: fewer women than men receive treatment.
For users like Zainab, a five-year addiction has led to shame and isolation. She recounts days lost to intoxication, unaware her home caught fire with her two infants inside. Though the children survived, she surrendered them to an orphanage, yearning to “hear them call me mummy again.” Kush’s short-term euphoria often leaves users incapacitated, with long-term effects including psychosis, organ damage, and vulnerability to exploitation.
A Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime report revealed nearly half of tested kush samples contained dangerous opioids, complicating response efforts in one of the world’s poorest nations. The drug’s low cost and shifting composition—with 25 strains identified in Freetown—fuel its spread.
Women face heightened risks. Kadiatu Koroma of Women for Women Foundation notes rising female addiction, with men often sexually exploiting users in a drugged state. “They’re impregnated and don’t even know the father,” she explains. At Kissy Psychiatric Hospital, nurse Kadiatu Dumbuya reports 90% of female kush addicts resort to sex work to fund their habits.
Despite a military-guarded rehab program launched in February 2024, only 40 of 300 beneficiaries are women. Stigma and family pressure deter many from seeking help, officials say, even as centers claim gender-sensitive approaches. Meanwhile, women like Zainab remain trapped between addiction and societal judgment, their struggles overshadowed in a crisis disproportionately silencing their voices.
