The “no to drugs” campaign has taking a new trend by targeting schools, communities, and ghettos in River Gee County.
The exercise is ahead of the upcoming World Drug Day scheduled for Friday, June 26, 2026, the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) River Gee Detachment, has kicked off a massive awareness campaign.
As a mark of the pending celebrations, officers have moved from classroom to community, pushed one message: “drug abuse destroys futures and prevention starts with all of us.”
The international day, observed globally every June 26, focuses on strengthening action and cooperation to achieve a world “free of drug abuse.”
In River Gee, the LDEA detachment has said, it will use the occasion to sound the alarm on rising substance abuse, particularly among the youth.
LDEA officers have meanwhile, visited schools in Fish Town, Potupo, Chedepo and Tienpo District. In assemblies and classroom sessions, Agents have broken down the real dangers of illicit drugs. Students have learned how drug abuse affects the brain, damages organs, leads to school dropout, and increases crime. Officers have also shared real-life case studies to make the message hit home. “We have not just lectured them, but showed them the path to say ‘no’ and the path that leads to prison, sickness, or death. The choice is yours,” one officer told students at Fish Town High School. The detachment has meanwhile, urged students to turn out in large numbers for the official World Drug Day program on Saturday to become “anti-drug ambassadors” in their own schools. Beyond school walls, LDEA River Gee teams have entered communities, markets, and areas locally known as “ghettos” places where drug use and sales often concentrate.
Officers have held town hall talks, door-to-door engagements and street sensitization with the goal to reach young people, who may have already experimented drugs or who are at risk due to peer pressure, unemployment and idle time.
Through the campaign, LDEA has also encouraged community leaders, parents, and religious groups to report drug activity and support rehabilitation for users instead of stigma.
The Agency’s core message for River Gee: “Say no to Drugs. Say Yes to Life.”
The detachment has called on all residents, especially young people, to attend and join the fight.
As the countdown to June 26 continues, LDEA River Gee says the campaign will stop after the World Drug Day. Officers have planned sustained outreach to keep the message alive.