Liberian Youths Unite Against Drugs
Drug addiction is leaving deep scars on Liberian society but the country’s young people are refusing to let it define their future.
In Monrovia on Wednesday, 6 August 2025, more than 300 youths from across the capital gathered to send a resounding message: “No to drugs, yes to life.”
Their pledge came during an interactive session with a visiting parliamentary delegation on an anti-drug awareness campaign, where powerful testimonies laid bare the human cost of substance abuse.
One particularly moving account came from a young man who had broken free from the grip of addiction.
He spoke of the mental, physical, and social devastation it brings, urging his peers never to touch the “poison” that had nearly destroyed him.
The youths condemned drug cartels and detailed how narcotics are fuelling a public health crisis, fostering gang recruitment in vulnerable communities, driving up crime, and forcing school dropouts particularly in disadvantaged areas.
They called on the Liberian government to tackle the root causes, including poverty and unemployment, while investing in education, prevention, and rehabilitation programmes.
Liberia’s Minister of Youth and Sports acknowledged drug abuse as a national health emergency, pledging continued efforts such as intensified awareness drives, large-scale rehabilitation of reintegration centres, and the construction of a neuropsychiatric hospital.
An interministerial task force involving health, justice, youth, gender, finance ministries, and the Drug Enforcement Agency is also in place to strengthen the fight.
Before the session, the young participants staged a two-kilometre march through the city, symbolising their united stance for a drug-free future.
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