Behind Bars Brighter Futures–Africa launches ‘Don’t Buy, Don’t Sell, End Kush’ campaign

On the 19th of October 2025, the Founder of Behind Bars Brighter Futures–Africa, Musa Pious Sesay Jr. Esq released a statement announcing the official launch of a nationwide campaign to combat the illegal sale and consumption of the deadly drug known as kush in Sierra Leone.

As an organization committed to building an Africa where children and young people are free from the influence of crime and empowered with the tools to make positive life choices, Behind Bars Brighter Futures–Africa views drug misuse as one of the most pressing social factors driving youth involvement in crime.

The statement described the kush epidemic as an “emergency of national concern” that has claimed hundreds of young lives and left countless others in states of mental and physical ruin.

The campaign, titled “Don’t Buy, Don’t Sell, End Kush,” is designed to deliver a message that is both simple and profound. According to the organization, “Kush is acutely dangerous.

It makes sense not to buy it, and not to sell it.” The slogan captures a moral and economic truth: by the law of demand and supply, the survival of the drug trade depends on both buyers and sellers. Eliminating either side breaks the chain. The campaign, therefore, seeks to reduce both consumption and distribution through a unified national awareness drive that empowers citizens especially the youth to reject kush entirely.

Explaining the rationale behind the campaign, lawyer Pious Sesay emphasized that the Don’t Buy, Don’t Sell message is not just a slogan, but a civic call to action. It is an invitation for communities, parents, schools, religious institutions, and law enforcement agencies to unite in restoring the moral fabric and mental well-being of the nation’s young people.

The campaign will involve public sensitization, street and community outreach, media advocacy, and the sale of branded T-shirts carrying the message. Proceeds from these sales will be channeled into the rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of drug abuse.

When asked why the organization has chosen to focus particularly on kush amidst the many other illegal substances circulating in the country, Lawyer Sesay made the distinction clear. “All drugs are harmful,” “but the effect of kush is remarkably destructive.”

Unlike many other narcotics, kush’s addictive potential is devastatingly high. It quickly erodes the user’s mental stability, ambition, and sense of purpose. Across Sierra Leone, communities have witnessed the collapse of promising young lives: students abandoning school, workers losing their livelihoods, and families torn apart. In the most tragic cases, kush users are left in physical deterioration, living in a state of disconnection, hunger and despair before death claims them.

Behind Bars Brighter Futures–Africa believes that addressing this crisis requires both compassion and courage. The Don’t Buy, Don’t Sell, End Kush campaign aims to ignite a sense of national duty to protect the country’s future by protecting its youth.

As the campaign rolls out across schools, communities, and social platforms, the organization calls on every Sierra Leonean to take a stand: refuse to buy, refuse to sell, and together, help end kush.