Some interesting information on the drugs issue in Mexico - in...

Some interesting information on the drugs issue in Mexico - in the just released Issues Paper 13 from the Washington Office on Latin America (November 2007).

It provides some info on the Safe Schools Program (which HGR's distributors in Mexico are currently negotiating to provide Oraline for)- as included in the extract below.

The link for the full report is:
http://www.idpc.info/php-bin/documents/WOLA_Beckley_BP_Crossroads_EN.pdf



AT A CROSSROADS:
Drug Trafficking, Violence and the Mexican State

A rising consumer population

In addition to the disturbing rise in drug-related violence, Mexico is also suffering from increased domestic drug abuse. As a transit and producer country there is a steady flow of drugs through Mexico. As in other transit countries, the payment in kind between drug trafficking organizations results in a greater availability of drugs in the country and an increase in small-scale drug dealing as local markets are sought for the drugs. While marijuana continues to be the main drug used by Mexicans, followed by cocaine, there has been an alarming increase in methamphetamine use, exacerbated as Mexican “cartels� try to make a profit in this new drug at home. This problem has become particularly acute in cities on the U.S. border. For example, it is estimated that among Tijuana’s 1.4 million residents, there are over 100,000 methamphetamine addicts.

The response from the Mexican health and education sectors in treating addictions has been criticized as deficient and erratic. Mexican expert on addictions Haydée Rosovsky states that “preventive efforts in Mexico in general are characterized as being broken up between different institutions or organizations with a variety of discourses. … There is no public policy regarding drugs that supports solid, persistent and evaluated programs, as there has not been enough political will in our country for such a policy.�

The National Development Plan 2007-2012 lays out objectives for more prevention campaigns and rehabilitation measures in Mexico. This includes the “Let’s Clean Mexico� (Limpiemos México) initiative by which the government will build 300 specialized units throughout Mexico to treat addictions.

Another component of the initiative is the Safe School Program, which aims to detect consumption of illegal substances in schools. This program proposes drug tests and written questionnaires about drug use by elementary and middle school children. While both proposals stipulate that these tests will not be done without parents’ consent, they have been questioned by the National Human Rights Commission, Mexican human rights organizations, and members of Congress from the PRI and PRD for their potential violation of children’s rights.

While it is too soon to provide an assessment of these efforts, the priority given in the federal government’s discourse to attending to addictions may be an important indicator for future policies. Recently, the National Council Against Addictions (Consejo Nacional contra las Adicciones, Conadic), part of the Ministry of Health, was granted approximately 68 million dollars as part of the over 206 million seized from Zhenli Ye Gon, a trafficker of pseudoephedrine into Mexico. The money will be used to establish the 300 prevention and treatment units detailed in the National Development Plan.

This additional funding in part addresses critiques on the deficient amount of resources granted by the new administration to address addictions. Previously Conadic had stated that the Mexican government designates only one peso to prevent addictions for every 16 that is spent in the fight against drug traffickers. According to the Interior Ministry (Secretaría de Gobernación), the federal government issued 732,000 television and radio spots on the campaign to combat drug trafficking and crime between December 1, 2006 to April 30, 2007. None of the messages, which have highlighted the government’s joint operations and drug interdiction efforts, mentioned the issue of drug prevention in Mexico.