Liberia’s kush crisis: The hidden trade behind a generation at risk

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that Liberia is facing a growing kush crisis, with the cheap synthetic drug spreading through Monrovia and other parts of the country and leaving families to cope with addiction, school dropouts and homelessness. Parents interviewed by the outlet described children who began using the drug as teenagers and later struggled to recover, while the state’s main rehabilitation centre in Bentol City remains unfinished, limiting treatment options.

The article says Liberia declared drug abuse a public health emergency in 2024, but the crisis has continued to deepen. It also notes that kush first emerged in neighboring Sierra Leone before moving into Liberia. In the communities described, some users are known locally as zogos, and local leaders say the effects of addiction have spread well beyond users themselves, weakening families and exposing residents to intimidation after police raids.

Behind the street-level damage, Al Jazeera says Liberian authorities have uncovered signs of a larger trafficking network moving through the country. Figures from the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency show 1,167 arrests for drug trafficking between September 2025 and June 22, 2026, but only eight convictions in the same period. The reporting also highlights major cocaine seizures at Roberts International Airport and in Margibi County, which investigators say point to Liberia being used as a route for international shipments.

The article adds that traffickers appear to be adapting to enforcement pressure, with changes in seizures of kush-related substances and other drugs. The broader significance, as presented by Al Jazeera, is that Liberia’s crisis is now both a public health emergency and an enforcement challenge, while families argue that authorities are still reaching users more easily than the networks supplying the drugs.