Mexico Drug Addiction
For many years, Mexico has been a well-known
producer of drugs such as marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin, with the
United States as its primary market. In the 1990s, the pattern of trafficking
shifted as Columbian cocaine manufacturers tired of losing product and
personnel in drug enforcement seizures, and handed off cocaine trafficking into
the U.S. to the Mexican drug trafficking organizations.
Using the channels of smuggling and
distribution that already existed; the Mexican drug trafficking organizations
became stronger, poly-drug trafficking organizations. Cocaine that used to be
shuttled to the U.S. via boats in the Caribbean was now sneaked through ports
of entry in Southern California or Texas in
combination with other drugs, or was airlifted across the border.
As the new millennium rolled around, the
patterns of drug trafficking continued to change. The war on drugs on the U.S.
side escalated and several of the top drug cartel leaders were
arrested or killed. These openings at the top led to turf wars that have killed
more than 7,000 people - most of them federal or local police or drug
traffickers, but too many being innocent bystanders. Particularly in the
Tijuana area and Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso, the violence and
body count were high.
Border security increased after September 11,
2001. Increased investment in surveillance and monitoring meant that
it was harder to get illicit drugs into the United States. Some U.S. regions
would report shortages in the cocaine supply in particular. This meant that
some traffickers turned to their own population to peddle their wares. As a
result, addiction within Mexico began to rise.
Mexico's Addiction Survey
Reports Rapid Growth in Drug Use
The national Addiction Survey is completed
every five or six years, the latest one being in 2008 and the prior survey
being published in 2002. Fifty thousand homes in Mexico are surveyed, but
authorities commented that they were reluctant to survey some of the northern
states where drug manufacture and trafficking is the most prevalent, due to
safety concerns for the surveyors.
The 2008 Addiction Survey reported that the
number of people who had used drugs increased by a million between 2002 and
2008 - from 3.5 million to 4.5 million. Inhalable cocaine use almost doubled.
For those between the ages of 12 and 25, 43 percent are exposed to drug use,
half of those experiments with drugs and 13 percent use drugs frequently. The
number of those addicted to illegal drugs increased 51 percent to nearly half a
million.
In addition to those who are addicted, the
Addiction Survey reported that another four million people needed what they
termed a "brief intervention" to get them off drugs, and that 80
percent of the population needs prevention help. The survey also
reported that the use of crack cocaine, methamphetamine and powder cocaine that
had previously only been seen in Tijuana and Baja California had now spread to
more than 100 cities.
Marketing Tactics Increase
the Illicit
Drug Customer Base
To distribute the drugs that were beginning
to accumulate as a result of border pressure and scrutiny, drug dealers - as
many as 35,000 strong by some reports - began to offer free doses to students
and partygoers, particularly young women. Some drug dealers began to be paid
for their services in product rather than money. And the addiction figures
began to grow.
Cocaine in its powder form or converted
into crack cocaine is most often the
drug Mexicans are addicted to. Marijuana use is widespread. In the northern
border state of Sonora, crystal methamphetamine use quadrupled between
2002 and 2008.
Mexico's Attorney General stated,
"It is clear to everyone that our nation has stopped being a transit
country for drugs going to the United States and become an important market as
well. We are experiencing a phenomenon of greater drug supplies in the streets,
at relatively accessible prices."
The Nation Grapples with
the Solutions
On August 20, 2009, the Mexican
government signed new drug laws into effect. No longer would the
possession of small "personal use" amounts of marijuana, heroin,
cocaine, LSD or methamphetamine be criminal offenses. Those caught with these
drugs would be encouraged to seek treatment, or after the third offense, be
required to enter treatment. The amount of marijuana allowed under this law is
about the equivalent of four "joints" or marijuana cigarettes. The
amount of cocaine permitted is enough to create four lines, or half a gram.
Authorities stated that this action would
allow them to concentrate on drug dealers rather than charging, convicting and
imprisoning users. The Mexican prison system is built to house 172,000 inmates
but holds an additional 50,000 - the same number of inmates as the number
arrested in the last few years under President Felipe Calderon's campaign
against drug traffickers in the last few years.
This new law became effective came just a few
days after a prison riot occurred in northern Mexico at a prison housing
federal inmates convicted of drug and organized crime charges. The riot left 19
inmates dead. Between August and December 2008, prison riots left 80 dead, 162
injured and allowed 27 to escape.
At another prison in Zacatecas, 53 drug
cartel members walked out of prison without interference from prison guards in
May 2009, and were whisked away in official-appearing police cars. Other cartel
members in prison enjoy lavish privileges or simply buy their way out of
prison.
Mexico is fast-tracking more prison
facilities and state-run treatment centers in an attempt to alleviate
the growing problems of addiction, a failed prison system, police and
governmental corruption and drug cartels that operate openly and freely in many
sectors.
Narconon Centers Open to
Bring Help and Hope to Those Addicted
Into a country with great need of treatment,
two Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers have been established
- one in Mexico City and one in Pedro Escobedo, Queretaro. The unique Narconon program takes those who are
addicted through eight phases or steps that start by thoroughly detoxifying the
body of residual toxins, reducing or eliminating cravings. The program goes on
to help a person restore his or her own personal integrity, so often destroyed
by drug use, and then revitalizes the person's own sense of morals and ability
to make drug-free decisions. Internationally, seven out of ten Narconon
graduates go on to live drug-free lives.
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