Friday, February 23, 2024

Fentanyl use spreads deeper into Mexico, on heels of US epidemic

Why should the population of Mexico (about 127 million) be spared from a criminals perspective! The market is too lucrative!

Mexico appears to be lax on drug trafficking as long as it passes through Mexico into the United States. At least that appears to be the official policy. Sort of a gentlemen's agreement between the government and organised crime. Maybe this will finally change!

Can the Mexican government even take on organised crime?

"... Although Mexico is a major trafficking hub for the highly potent synthetic opioid, it has so far avoided a consumption epidemic within its own borders. ...
Mexico's mental health and addiction commission (CONASAMA) has classified fentanyl as an "emerging drug" because of an uptick in users seeking treatment, even though opioid users make up less than 2% of the some 168,000 people who sought drug treatment in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available.
"Fentanyl is not a public health problem at this moment," said Evalinda Barron, the general director of CONASAMA. Still, she said, "it's a concern."
Unlike in the United States, where potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl cause tens of thousands of deadly overdoses per year, Mexico officially logged less than two dozen opioid-related deaths in 2021, the latest year for which government data is available.
Mexico's health ministry has publicly acknowledged gaps in the data. The ministry did not respond to a request for more recent statistics. The president's office did not respond to questions for this story. ..."

"While Mexico is a trafficking hub for fentanyl, it has so far avoided its own consumption and overdose epidemic.

But that is changing, say researchers and health officials in the country, who worry that Mexico could soon develop an epidemic like that in the U.S.
The actual scale of consumption is unclear due to a lack of data. But researchers say initial information indicates a worrisome uptick. 
Researchers worry that fentanyl could take the same trajectory as meth: While meth started as just an export, a local market eventually took hold. 
Border cities have seen the greatest increase, as drugs unable to be smuggled into the U.S. are often sold in local markets.
60% of 333 people who sought treatment for fentanyl use in 2022 were located in just four border municipalities."

Fentanyl use spreads deeper into Mexico, on heels of US epidemic | Reuters

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