– Drug Addicted-Youth Plead for Rehabilitation
By Jerromie S. Walters
Monrovia: A group of at-risk youth living in Monrovia’s Pelham Building on Center Street appealed directly to a visiting ECOWAS delegation for urgent rehabilitation support and basic services. During the engagement on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, the youth described their extreme living conditions, including pregnant women being forced to give birth in makeshift gravesites they use as shelters, with one spokesperson stating plainly: “Most of our sisters can deliver in the void.” The youth acknowledged their struggles with drug addiction but emphasized that many turned to substances due to peer pressure and lack of alternatives, pleading for help rather than punishment.
The spokesperson outlined three critical needs for their community: immediate shelter to replace their destroyed living spaces, access to proper medical care especially for pregnant women, and comprehensive rehabilitation programs to help them rebuild their lives. He described how Liberia’s Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) raids often leave them homeless by destroying their temporary shelters without providing solutions, while community leaders must scramble to collect money when pregnant women need emergency hospital care.
His words: “I want to say this to all of you that came. May God continue to touch your hearts because we need two important thing right now. We need transformation in the lives of our brothers and sisters. We need medication and we need shelter.” Ms. Thelma Konnah, another resident, supported these accounts and thanked the delegation for their visit but stressed the need for immediate action to address their desperate situation.
The prevalence of drug use among youth remains alarming, with recent studies suggesting that approximately 20% of young people in Liberia are using substances. 2 in 10 youth in Liberia are users of narcotic substances. In June of this year, the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) reported that between 2024 and 2025, it (LDEA) seized nationwide a staggering 9,651.23 kilograms of narcotics with a combined street value exceeding $4.9 million (LRD 949 million).
The agency’s nationwide operations targeted a range of illegal substances, with the synthetic drug Kush accounting for the largest haul at 5,494.50 kilograms, valued at $2.3 million (LRD 405.5 million).
The youth plead comes as a high-level ECOWAS delegation conducted a field visit to Center Street in Monrovia, engaging directly with them ahead of the planned August 7 “Say No to Drugs” awareness march. The delegation, comprising Orlando Pereira Dias of Cape Verde and Senator Edwin Snowe, was joined by Monrovia City Mayor John Siafa during the open dialogue session with disadvantaged young people.
During the interactive meeting, Mayor Siafa urged the youth to access existing support services and maintain optimism about their recovery journey. The at-risk youth utilized the platform to openly discuss their personal struggles with addiction and the systemic challenges they face in accessing rehabilitation.
The ECOWAS representatives reiterated their dedication to pushing for enhanced drug treatment programs and coordinated regional efforts to combat narcotics trafficking. This community visit formed part of a broader week-long ECOWAS initiative in Liberia focused on drug abuse prevention and mental health advocacy, with activities building toward the August 7, 2025, anti-drug march.
Hundreds of Liberians marched on Capitol Hill on Thursday, in a call to nation government to tackle what appears to be a struggle crisis affecting Liberia.
Partakers of the August 7th anti-drug March, mostly dressed in dominant black peacefully marched to the Capitol Building, the seat of the Liberian legislature, and presented a three-page petition to the House committee on claims and petition Chair Hon. Prince Toles and several other lawmakers including Hon. James Kolleh.
The petition, titled “A Cry to Save a Dying Generation and Protect Our Future,” was addressed to President Joseph Boakai, Vice President Jeremiah Koung, Speaker Richard Nagbe Koon, and members of the Legislature. It outlines a comprehensive set of demands aimed at tackling the scourge of illicit drugs through legislative reforms, increased funding for rehabilitation, and systemic changes across multiple sectors.
The document paints a harrowing picture of Liberia’s current state, where communities are living in fear and despair as drugs like marijuana, heroin, kush, cocaine, and amphetamine-type stimulants, including tramadol, ravage the population. These substances, some costing as little as $1.50, are causing severe health crises, including zombie-like disorientation, organ damage, psychosis, and even death. The petition highlights the heartbreaking reality of parents burying their children due to drug overdoses, while others are forced to watch their offspring roam the streets, begging and stealing to feed their addictions.
According to the Global Action for Sustainable Development (GASD) April 2023 Report, Monrovia and its surroundings account for approximately 65% of the country’s substance abuse activity, with over 866 ghettos serving as hubs for illicit drug use and trade. These spaces are home to an estimated 100,000 chronic drug users, a staggering figure that underscores the scale of the crisis.
The petition argues that while victims of addiction waste away, the drug traffickers and dealers responsible for this devastation operate with impunity, shielded by weak laws, lenient sentences, and accomplices in positions of authority. It emphasizes that protecting citizens, especially the youth, from the grip of drugs is not just a moral duty but a constitutional obligation under Article 11(c) of the Liberian Constitution, which guarantees equal protection under the law. To address this crisis, the petition calls for immediate and decisive action from both the Legislative and Executive branches of government.
On 30 June 2022, the government of Liberia launched a national fund drive in support of a programme for the rehabilitation and empowerment of At-Risk Youth in Liberia by the Government in collaboration with the United Nations and partners. Unfortunately, this didn’t go as planned. Following his ascendancy to the presidency, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai declared drugs a national health crisis. However, drug addiction is becoming troubling by the day.
Between last year to this year, the LDEA also confiscated 4,040.02 kilograms of marijuana worth $369,098 (LRD 70.1 million), along with smaller but significant quantities of harder drugs. These included 32.69 kilograms of cocaine valued at $1.76 million (LRD 335.4 million), 11.95 kilograms of heroin worth $537,556 (LRD 70.1 million), and 68.73 kilograms of tramadol estimated at $144,413 (LRD 27.4 million). Additionally, the LDEA intercepted 3.4354 kilograms of precursor chemicals used in drug production, with an estimated worth of $8,109 (LRD 1.5 million).
