Published: October 3, 2025
MONROVIA — Two men have died in Logan Town, Bushrod Island, after reportedly smoking “Kush,” a dangerous synthetic cannabis that has rapidly spread across Liberia and is being blamed for a rising wave of drug-related deaths.
The victims, identified only as Mustapha, 45, and Tamba, 32, reportedly collapsed late Wednesday night after using the drug and were later found dead Thursday morning in Zondo Town, a section of Logan Town, according to eyewitnesses and fellow drug users. “Just this morning alone, two died to Kush,” said Emmanuel Hudson, a longtime friend of the victims who admitted he has been on the streets using illicit substances for 18 years. “Our friends are losing their lives on a daily basis as a result of this particular substance, which has permeated society.”
Residents rushed to the scene where the men’s bodies lay sprawled in the community’s slum areas. Reactions were mixed; some expressed sorrow, while others showed little sympathy. “They chose to cut their lives short due to their unwillingness to do away with this habit,” said Patrick Suah, a resident of Sayon Town, who described the deaths as a case of “what you sow is what you reap.”
Others, however, likened the mounting death toll from Kush to the country’s devastating Ebola epidemic. “One body is here, another one is on the other side,” said a woman who declined to give her name. “Every day it’s like the Ebola days again — young people dying in their droves.”
Community members say the deaths have become routine. Morris, a tearful resident, recounted how his sister’s son died just last week after smoking Kush. “This is a daily experience losing our kids to this drug,” he said. The growing presence of bodies in communities has also created a health hazard, residents said, as decomposing corpses sometimes remain for days before being removed.
In some cases, neighbors have pooled money to pay for the disposal of bodies when government authorities failed to intervene. Liberia continues to struggle with rising drug abuse since the end of its civil war more than two decades ago. Kush, which has been reported across several West African nations, has quickly become one of the most harmful narcotics circulating in the country.
Dozens of young people have died in recent months from suspected Kush-related complications, sparking a national outcry. Many Liberians blame the proliferation of drugs on weak enforcement under former President George Weah, though the issue also became a major political theme during the 2023 elections that brought President Joseph Boakai to power.
Since taking office, Boakai has declared drug abuse a “national health emergency.” In his first annual address in January, he pledged to combat narcotics through stronger law enforcement, rehabilitation programs and community outreach, and he set up a national committee to coordinate the response. But despite those steps, the drug related deaths in Logan Town and many other areas across the country underscore the scale of the crisis. Community members say the government’s efforts have yet to curb the drug’s availability or its toll. “We are burying our children every week,” said another Logan Town resident. “This Kush problem is killing us silently.”
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