A Generation on the Brink : Youth, Drugs, and the Unspoken Crisis in Sierra Leone
Introduction: The Boiling Streets of Freetown Spend a few months in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, and the signs of a society in crisis are impossible to ignore. Young men and women, restless and disillusioned, drift through the streets with little direction. Some are visibly under the influence of KUSH—a cheap synthetic drug that has become the symbol of youth despair. Others are glued to their phones, chasing the mirage of becoming “YouTubers” or “Instagram influencers.” Politicians exploit their misery for votes, while international donors funnel money into ministries that exist more on paper than in practice. The result is a generation adrift—misunderstood, misrepresented, and dangerously neglected. The narrative that blames drugs alone is not only simplistic—it is dangerous. It allows leaders to avoid accountability, to pretend that the crisis is about individual weakness rather than systemic collapse. To focus on KUSH is to treat the smoke while ignoring the fire. The Conveni
