Liberia launches national drug survey and releases 63 detainees

The Liberian Ministry of Health, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United States Department of State, has launched the country’s first National Survey on Psychoactive Substance Use. The initiative aims to collect data on the prevalence and patterns of substance abuse across Liberia’s 15 political subdivisions to inform evidence-based prevention and rehabilitation programs.

Separately, the Legal Aid Clinic of the United Methodist Church facilitated the release of 63 pretrial detainees from Monrovia Central Prison during October 2026. The releases, conducted through a Magistrate Sitting Program at the Temple of Justice, targeted indigent Liberians and foreign residents held in prolonged detention. The program aims to reduce prison overcrowding and improve access to judicial proceedings.