Paynesville – Barely one week following the mass campaign against drug-trafficking and addiction held under the banner “Say No to Drugs,” the battle seems rigid and far from ending anytime soon.
By Emmanuel Weedee-Conway
Since the much-publicized campaign, dealers of illicit drugs are still continuing their bad deals with several young men in Liberia tragically losing their lives due to complications linked to drug addiction, particularly the abuse of synthetic substances such as “Kush” and other narcotics.
The latest, the Soul Clinic Community in Paynesville, outside Monrovia woke up to one of the saddest news on Wednesday morning as two promising young men lost their precious lives to unidentified illicit substances, while two others were left unconscious and rushed to nearby health facility.
Community sources who trooped to the scene in their numbers informed FrontPage Africa that the victims, believed to be in their mid-twenties, had struggled with prolonged substance dependence.
According to them, the deaths of the two young Liberians might have been as a result of fatal overdoses or intake of a new substance, which their system had not adjusted to.
Since the end of Liberia’s 14-year civil war in 2003, drug addiction and trafficking have remained among the nation’s most pressing challenges. Users of illicit substances, commonly known as “zogo,” frequently face severe health deterioration, mental instability, and even death.
Medical professionals have continuously warned that the rise in illicit drug use among the youth is becoming a public health emergency, citing limited rehabilitation facilities, poor mental health support, and widespread drug availability as key drivers of the crisis.
During the recent “Say No To Drugs” match, campaigners and rights advocates reiterated their calls to the Government of Liberia to intensify anti-drug enforcement, improve rehabilitation programs, and launch aggressive public awareness campaigns to prevent further loss of young lives.
The deaths of the two young men and others across the country could exacerbate further national concern over Liberia’s escalating drug problem, which many fear could wipe out an entire generation if urgent action is not taken.
Speaking to this paper at the dreadful scene, anti-drug campaigner, Anthony Zogar called on the Liberian government to ensure the full implementation of the Drugs Law.
“Today it is too alarming to see our young brothers lying down here dead due to drug addiction. This is a sign of what we have been crying for. This is the sign that when nothing is done within the next five years, we will have no generation to lead the young people that are coming up. If this continues, we will have no carpenters, we will have no doctors, we will have no plumbers in the future,” asserted Zogar.
Zogar also called on all Liberians to take the fight against drugs very seriously so as to alleviate the proliferation of substance use.
Zogar, who is the Executive Director of the advocacy group – Students Against Drugs, urged the people of Paynesville to emulate the example of other communities to replicate it in the city by taking bold and proactive steps in the battle.
Also in conversation with this paper, an anti-drug campaigner of the Destiny Recovery Program, Paul Boayue, described as saddened, the painful deaths of the two youth.
One of the deceased, Boayue disclosed, had just recovered from the rehabilitation program of the Destiny Recovery Program, before sadly returning to the ghettos, where he met his heart-jerking demise.
“One of the victims (name withheld), had recently completed recovery at our rehabilitation center, but returned to the ghettoes within no time. This is devastating and disappointing,” narrated Boayue.
“He was okay, he was fine. We even conducted his test and it proved negative so we had to discharge him from the center. I am highly disappointed to see him lying dead after all.”
Like Zogar, Boayue also called for a holistic fight against trafficking and addiction to set the country free.
“This is a holistic fight; it’s not about the government alone. It’s about the community, it’s about civil society organizations, it’s about the media, it’s about everyone; it’s everyone’s business. It’s about local community leadership, it’s about teachers and it’s about parents,” added the anti-drug campaigner.
Youth addiction and neighborhood safety: Women’s and civil society groups describe hundreds of informal “dens” across the capital and a rising share of youths affected, which residents of Soul Clinic and adjacent communities experience as theft, street disorder, and school dropouts.
Mental-health and treatment gaps: Paynesville houses the country’s only dedicated psychiatric hospital (E.S. Grant on Du Port Road), but treatment capacity and affordability remain limited compared with need, pushing many families to manage addiction at home or rely on church/NGO outreach.
