Use of ‘kuskura’ on dangerous rise in Zaria

“Kuskura” is a popular name for a herbal substance consumed primarily as an intoxicant by youths, women and the elderly in some parts of Zaria, Kaduna State. The substance, a herbal drug is being abused and now taken as a replacement for some banned substances. The abuse of Kuskura is rampant in Zaria as married women, school girls and boys are not left out in the disturbing practice. Daily Trust Saturday reports.

Maikudi Shaga is a 31-year-old Zaria-based mechanic, who confessed to being addicted to a mouth rinsing formular known by its Hausa name ‘Kuskura’, which literally means to rinse mouth. 

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Shaga, who admitted to using the liquid substance at least seven times a day, says it gives him the energy to work efficiently without being subjected to physical fatigue.

“I am already addicted to it, so I cannot do without it,” he boldly confessed. “Honestly, whenever I rinse my mouth with it, I feel on top of the world, it makes me energetic and healthy and enables me to conduct my mechanic work with vigour,” he said.

“I will confess to you that most of us here in this garage use the substance not for any medicinal purposes but just to make us ‘high’ and improve our daily work. A lot of our friends are using it, in fact, most of the guys you see around this mechanic workshop are kuskura users. It’s just normal for us,” he explained.

Kuskura, a mouth rinsing liquid substance, popular in Zaria and environs, is becoming a thing of concern as it is speedily replacing cough syrups as the new intoxicant used among youths and housewives. The liquid substance, made from a mixture of variety of leaves, comes in a small bottle and vendors say they are often transported from the south western part of the country. Largely found in small unregistered chemists and among vendors, Kuskura is well patronised and Daily Trust  Saturday findings revealed that with as little as N100, anyone could purchase the substance.

Amina Ndagi of Sabon Layi in Zaria is a 38-year-old widow with four children says, she uses Kuskura for two purposes. “One, it makes me active and energetic to conduct my kuli kuli (groundnut cake) business effectively because I trek a long distance to reach my customers daily. Secondly, it gives me relief anytime my evil Jinn wants to pin me down,” she said.

The mother of four explained that she has no regret using the substance and stressed that she is not addicted. “I don’t overdose on the substance as others do, I normally rinse my mouth once when I wake up in the morning, then towards evening when I am set to go out to hawk my product and finally, when I return home so that it relieves me of my stress,” Ndagi explained.

Adamu Mohammed, who has three wives and 24 children, said he uses the substance as a sex enhancer, adding that it also clears all forms of illnesses like cold, catarrh and weakness of the body. “I don’t overuse it like other youths do. I usually rinse my mouth with it about twice a day and it helps me in my day-to-day activities,” he explained.

Speaking on the business side of the substance, a kuskura wholesaler in Zaria city, explained that the substance is originally meant for the treatment of headaches, catarrh and serves as a poster remedy against jinns and evil spirits. He says kuskura is also used as a sex enhancer among men.

The dealer, who asked not to be named, said there are eight brands of the substance. 

“Two of the substances are the most patronized due to their fast action. The products is well patronized, one chemist could purchase a product worth N100,000 at a time. And such a person could have retailers who buy the substance worth N20,000 or N10,000 depending on patronage. Then he also has more than 30 people – male and female, who are direct consumers on a daily basis,” he said.

The Kuskura dealer explained that for effective use, an appreciable amount of the substance is put in the mouth for a thorough rinse after which it is expelled. Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the moment Kuskura hits the mouth and is being swished, the substance is activated and begins to charge and within a few minutes, the user becomes energetic and at the same time light-headed.

A retailer of the substance in Dan magaji, Zaria, simply called Ibro, said his customers are largely long-distance drivers, mechanics and farmers. “I sell a small bottle at the cost of N400 but if you don’t want to buy the whole bottle, I can measure the substance based on how much you can afford; it could be N200 or even N100,” he said.

When asked the number of bottles he sells per day, Ibro said he sells over 300 bottles daily, raking in about N100,000. “The business is very lucrative. The level of patronage is always on the increase,” he said.

Speaking on the health implication of the substance, Dr. Ayuba Abdurrazaq, a pharmacist at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital Shika, in Zaria, described Kuskura as an illicit substance which is consumed illegally for the larger purpose of intoxication.

‘It’s a dangerous trend’

Dr. Abdurrazaq said the substance, when abused, can be very dangerous to human organs, especially the brain. “It is toxic to the liver and kidney which can cause serious damage to their functionality. It is a substance that can cause irrational thinking and also affects the structural being and morphology of the kidney when abused, thereby leading to kidney failure. This is because it can weaken the capacity and functionality of the kidneys which naturally work round the clock,” he said.

The pharmacist, who is also the Assistant Director in charge of Narcotics Medicine for the North West, called on relevant authorities to impose proper control on the irrational distribution of the substance, especially in the open market, to save the society from another health calamity.

He appealed to parents, religious leaders and society to take the centre stage in creating awareness on the prevailing danger of the use of the illicit substances.

While blaming the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for poor enforcement, he said it was now common to see drugs being hawked around motor parks and places of gatherings by people with no basic education.

However, speaking from a religious perspective, Reverend Danjuma Samuel of Nasara Baptist Church, Tudun Jukun in Zaria, and a Zaria-based Islamic scholar, Malam Abubakar Magaji Basharata, said both Christianity and Islam frown on the consumption of any substance that could cause intoxication.

Reverend Nasara stressed that the Bible warns against indulging in anything alcoholic or any intoxicant while Malam Basharata stressed that consuming any kind of alcohol or intoxicant is a major sin in Islam.

Efforts to contact the Deputy Commander of the NDLEA in charge of Zaria Command, Malo Bitrus, at the time of filing this report proved abortive as he could not be reached for comment. 

However, an NDLEA source, who asked not to be named, said there was no clear-cut rule that captures the offence of using kuskura in the law for full enforcement and arrest of users. The source confirmed that the substance is fast becoming an intoxicant, especially among youths who abuse and overdose in it. He therefore stated that the agency was looking up to the National Assembly for legislation to empower the agency to enforce sanctions on the intoxicant.