Drug Culture in Mexico
Geography 303
7 November 2009 How the Drug Culture in Mexico Has Corrupted Its Youth The topic I have chosen to address is the drug culture in Mexico. I will aim to answer the question: how has the drug culture in Mexico corrupted its youth? The geography of Mexico has contributed greatly to it becoming a drug trafficking hot spot. Mexico is located in the middle of the world’s largest consumer and producer of cocaine. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of cocaine and Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine. Drug cartels have taken advantage of this location and control many different areas in Mexico. In Mexico the most powerful Cartels are based in the north. The reason for this is to establish control over points of entry to the United States, which as I have stated above is the world’s largest cocaine consumer. The most disturbing action of the cartels in recent history is their recruitment of youth. The new recruitment is a reaction to the arrests and killing of cartel members by Mexican officials under President Felipe Calderon. To explain how the drug culture in Mexico negatively impacts Mexican youth I will examine drug use among Mexican teens and possible causes of this drug use. I will examine some of the possible causes of drug use among Mexican teens including violence in the home and community and victimization. Benjet, Corina, Borges, Guilherme, Medina-Mora, Maria Elena, Fleiz, Clara, Joaquin, Zambrano, Rojas, Estela and Ramirez, Miriam “Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Correlations of Drug Use Among Adolescents: Results from the Mexican Adolescent Mental Health Survey.” Society for the Study of Addiction Journal 102.8 (2007): 1261-1268. This article chronicles the “Mexican Adolescent Mental Health Survey” performed in 2005. The test subjects were youth ranging in age form 12-17 and who resided within Mexico City. The study found that there was an increased use of drugs among
7 November 2009 How the Drug Culture in Mexico Has Corrupted Its Youth The topic I have chosen to address is the drug culture in Mexico. I will aim to answer the question: how has the drug culture in Mexico corrupted its youth? The geography of Mexico has contributed greatly to it becoming a drug trafficking hot spot. Mexico is located in the middle of the world’s largest consumer and producer of cocaine. The United States is the world’s largest consumer of cocaine and Colombia is the world’s largest producer of cocaine. Drug cartels have taken advantage of this location and control many different areas in Mexico. In Mexico the most powerful Cartels are based in the north. The reason for this is to establish control over points of entry to the United States, which as I have stated above is the world’s largest cocaine consumer. The most disturbing action of the cartels in recent history is their recruitment of youth. The new recruitment is a reaction to the arrests and killing of cartel members by Mexican officials under President Felipe Calderon. To explain how the drug culture in Mexico negatively impacts Mexican youth I will examine drug use among Mexican teens and possible causes of this drug use. I will examine some of the possible causes of drug use among Mexican teens including violence in the home and community and victimization. Benjet, Corina, Borges, Guilherme, Medina-Mora, Maria Elena, Fleiz, Clara, Joaquin, Zambrano, Rojas, Estela and Ramirez, Miriam “Prevalence and Socio-Demographic Correlations of Drug Use Among Adolescents: Results from the Mexican Adolescent Mental Health Survey.” Society for the Study of Addiction Journal 102.8 (2007): 1261-1268. This article chronicles the “Mexican Adolescent Mental Health Survey” performed in 2005. The test subjects were youth ranging in age form 12-17 and who resided within Mexico City. The study found that there was an increased use of drugs among