MEXICO CITY, Jul 28, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Health officials report drug
addiction is a growing problem in Mexico since the government's crackdown on
cartels and stepped-up U.S. border enforcement.
Mexico's Health Department says the number of new patients at drug treatment
centers in the country quadrupled between 2000 and 2006, The Arizona Republic
reported Monday.
"We used to think of drug traffickers as people who took drugs through Mexico to
the United States," Mexican President Felipe Calderon told addiction counselors.
"But their goal is no longer to just get drugs to the United States but rather
to get it on the domestic market."
Addiction experts say the problem is not just along the border but in Mexico
City, as well.
What most alarms them, they say, is the appearance of crystal meth in Mexico.
"The cartels are taking over the American meth supply, and they are getting
Mexicans addicted, too," says Richardo Sanchez of the Mexican Health Department.
Mexico has boosted funding for addition treatment programs from $14.3 million to
$76.2 million.
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