{"id":128317,"date":"2026-07-06T14:44:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T14:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tv.guardian.ng\/?p=128317"},"modified":"2026-10-21T09:43:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T09:43:44","slug":"kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\/","title":{"rendered":"Kush, Tramadol, Meth: West Africa\u2019s deadly new wave"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"dailymotion-player\"><script src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player\/x1ee8e.js\" data-video=\"xam2n4q\"><\/script><\/div><br><br><p>\nWest Africa is facing a catastrophic synthetic drug crisis. Once used for cannabis trafficking, old networks are now fueling a dangerous rise in synthetic cannabinoids and mixtures like Kush and Tramadol.<\/p>\n<p>Data shows a staggering 10% increase in drug prevalence across West and Central Africa since 2026, double the global average. This is overwhelming already strained healthcare systems, particularly in Nigeria where one in three people now need medical treatment.<\/p>\n<p>This man-made epidemic, often laced with toxic opioids, is spreading from Sierra Leone to Lagos. While nations discuss legalization and potential profits, West Africa grapples with the devastating reality of an evolving drug ecosystem outpacing legislative efforts. The promise of a &#8220;green gold rush&#8221; has tragically morphed into a synthetic crisis, leaving behind a trail of addiction and destruction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>West Africa is facing a catastrophic synthetic drug crisis. Once used for cannabis trafficking, old networks are now fueling a dangerous rise in synthetic cannabinoids and mixtures like Kush and Tramadol. Data shows a staggering 10% increase in drug prevalence across West and Central Africa since 2026, double the global average. This is overwhelming already [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gam_disable_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42070,37964],"tags":[1389,39306,17287,34100,1040],"class_list":["post-128317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-top-video","tag-kush","tag-meth","tag-tramadol","tag-wave","tag-west-africa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kush, Tramadol, Meth: West Africa\u2019s deadly new wave - GuardianTV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"West Africa is facing a catastrophic synthetic drug crisis. Once used for cannabis trafficking, old networks are now fueling a dangerous rise in synthetic cannabinoids and mixtures like Kush and Tramadol.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kush, Tramadol, Meth: West Africa\u2019s deadly new wave - GuardianTV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"West Africa is facing a catastrophic synthetic drug crisis. Once used for cannabis trafficking, old networks are now fueling a dangerous rise in synthetic cannabinoids and mixtures like Kush and Tramadol.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GuardianTV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-06T14:44:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-21T09:43:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/tv.guardian.ng\/2026\/07\/lasd984.jpg.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1214\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Abiodun Ogundairo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abiodun Ogundairo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Abiodun Ogundairo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a7ea396ab9bae73d4845496dbad885f1\"},\"headline\":\"Kush, Tramadol, Meth: West Africa\u2019s deadly new wave\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T14:44:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-21T09:43:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":142,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/lasd984.jpg.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Kush\",\"meth\",\"Tramadol\",\"wave\",\"West Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Health\",\"Top Video\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kush, Tramadol, Meth: West Africa\u2019s deadly new wave - GuardianTV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/kush-tramadol-meth-west-africas-deadly-new-wave\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/lasd984.jpg.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-06T14:44:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-21T09:43:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"West Africa is facing a catastrophic synthetic drug crisis. 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