Social Linkages for Youth Development and Child Link (SLYDCL) has renewed its call for a review of Sierra Leone’s drug laws through an appeal to the newly appointed Executive Director of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Prince Bull-Luceni.
The call was contained in a policy brief presented to Prince Bull-Luceni during a courtesy visit by the organisation to his office.
Prince Bull-Luceni was appointed on August 11, 2026, as part of the latest high-profile changes in Government announced in a press release issued by State House. Before his appointment, he served as Deputy Executive Director of the NDLEA.
The SLYDCL delegation, headed by its Executive Director, Habib T. Kamara, congratulated Prince Bull-Luceni on his appointment and expressed the organization’s commitment to continued collaboration with the Agency in addressing drug-related challenges across the country.
SLYDCL is a Civil Society Organisation focused on combating drug and substance abuse. It provides medical care, rehabilitation support and education to at-risk young people and children affected by drugs.
The organisation is also a major stakeholder in Sierra Leone’s fight against drug abuse, promoting evidence-based, human rights-centred and public-health approaches to drug prevention and control.
Prince Bull-Luceni assumes leadership of the country’s anti-drug Agency at a time when Sierra Leone is battling a serious drug and substance abuse crisis, which campaigners say requires significant reforms in the national response.
SLYDCL said its 15-page policy brief on the review of the National Drugs Control Act of 2008 highlights key areas requiring reform to ensure that Sierra Leone’s legal and policy framework responds effectively to the country’s changing drug situation.
The document focuses on the need to strengthen prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, harm reduction, recovery and the social reintegration of people affected by drug use. Reform of the law has remained a major demand of SLYDCL and other Civil Society Organisations working in the anti-drug sector.
Campaigners argue that the existing legislation has outlived its relevance and does not adequately distinguish between people who use drugs and those involved in the manufacture or trafficking of illegal substances.
A major concern is that the legislation places possession and personal use within the same criminal framework as broader drug offences. It provides for a prison sentence of not less than five years for the unlawful buying, selling, possession, control or use of drugs.
However, another provision of the same Act provides a basis for a more health-oriented response. Part IV calls for the treatment and rehabilitation of offenders through mechanisms such as treatment assessment panels, treatment orders and the suspension of penalties.
Campaigners say the apparent contradiction between the punitive and treatment-oriented provisions has hindered efforts to establish an effective and balanced drug-control system in Sierra Leone.
SLYDCL stressed that although the law remains an important foundation for controlling illicit drug trafficking and organized drug-related crimes, the changing nature of the crisis requires a review of the approaches contained in the current legislative framework.
“Sierra Leone’s drug situation has changed substantially since 2008. The country is now confronting increasingly diverse and unpredictable substances, including the synthetic-drug crisis associated with Kush, while also expanding efforts around treatment, rehabilitation, harm reduction, HIV prevention, overdose prevention and community-based services,” the executive summary of the policy brief stated.
