Mexico struggles with soaring drug addiction rate

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On his darkest days, Jorge snorted 15 grams of cocaine and went through several packages of Delicados cigarettes. He stole from his parents to fuel his addiction, lost his job and most of his friends. Finally, he came to believe his life was "worth nothing."
"I always got high alone. I would call my dealer and he would bring me my dose," says Jorge, who is 38.
Mexico, long known as a lucrative cocaine corridor to the United States, has become a country with a serious domestic drug problem. In the past five years, the number of drug addicts has almost doubled to 307,000. The number of people who have tried drugs rose to 4.5 million from 3.5 million in this period.
About one-fifth of the cocaine that passes through the country from Colombia and the other Andean countries is now consumed locally, mostly by people aged 15 to 30. The rest goes to the world's biggest drug market: Mexico's neighbor to the north.
President Felipe Calderon has launched an all-out offensive against the country's powerful drug cartels, also targeting domestic consumption.
Calderon's government names the domestic drug market as a contributor to narco-violence and has launched drug prevention and education programs. He has also introduced a proposal under which people found carrying small amounts of drugs can avoid prosecution if they declare they are addicts and submit to a treatment program.
Every year, about 2,000 tons of cocaine come onto the Mexican market -- much of it is consumed by young men, says Monte Alejandro Rubido, secretariat of Calderon's National System of Public Security. And in a country where 20 percent of the people live in poverty, drug dealers come in many forms. The street trade, known as narcomenudeo, is a new front in the war on drugs.
"We have the impression that drug dealers have beards, cowboy boots and sombreros. But no, they are housewives, old people, ordinary people," Rubido said in an interview in his Mexico City office. "They don't believe they are doing anything wrong and are just looking to make an extra $600 a month. That is why Mexico has such a pervasive drug culture."
For many years, drugs were socially unacceptable in this conservative, Roman Catholic country where many people live with their families until they marry. But the social stigma of drug use has faded, particularly for men, as more and more drug transporters are paid in drugs instead of cash. Tijuana is now a thriving center for methamphetamines, made for export as well as local consumption. In Ciudad Juarez, a methadone clinic has opened to treat heroin addicts.
Alma Garcia Alcaraz, Jorge's psychiatrist, says there has been an alarming increase in the number of drug addicts. "Cartels are selling more and more drugs in Mexico now," she said. "Many use crack, which is much more addictive, cheaper and stronger."
A piedra, a rock of crack cocaine, sells for as little as $2. A grapa, a small amount of powder cocaine, goes for $5.
(E-mail Marina Jimenez at mjimenez(at)globeandmail.com)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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