Cocaine Doesn't Just Transit: Some of It Seeps

The New York Times January 11, 1999 Cocaine Doesn't Just Transit: Some of It Seeps

By GINGER THOMPSON

          MEXICO CITY -- If he could take control of the millions of dollars Mexico spends each year to
          combat drug trafficking, Miguel Gonzalez Espinosa would spend a little less of it on high-tech,
          heavily armed operations at airports and along the border, aimed at stopping the flow of drugs
          from Colombia on their way to the United States.

          Gonzalez, who proudly calls himself a recovering alcoholic, directs a small drug rehabilitation center in
          the downtrodden neighborhood that surrounds the city's Basilica de Guadalupe. He sees firsthand the
          toll taken by a less-talked-about, but increasingly damaging problem: the rise in drug abuse -- especially
          cocaine and crack -- among Mexican youth.

In just the last two months, his residential treatment center, which relies entirely on private donations,
has taken in 12 new clients and is running above capacity, with 40 residents.

          One of them is Gloria Acevedo, 15, who had been living on the streets for two years, stealing and
          working as a prostitute to support her cocaine habit. Marco Antonio Salazar, 19, arrived stoned after he
          beat up his sister and was kicked out by his parents. And an addiction to crack led Isaac Perez, 22, to
          quit his job, sell all his belongings and steal cars.

          "We are in a drug crisis up to our necks," said Gonzalez, president of the Fundacion Dr. Sergio
          Berumen, the residential treatment program named for a philanthropist who gave seed money for the
          center. "When traffickers cannot get their drugs across the border, they sell it here."

          Mexico has been recognized for years as a major transit station for drugs. More than half of the
          cocaine smuggled into the United States passes through Mexico, as well as much of the heroin and
          marijuana.

          At a U.N. meeting about the drug trade last summer, President Ernesto Zedillo characterized his
          country's crisis as one that is generated by drug consumer nations, especially the United States. There
          are new signs, however, that the number of Mexican consumers is on the rise.

          A 1997 report by the Ministry of Health says that in the last six years cocaine use has quadrupled
          among Mexicans ages 12 to 19. Among patients at government-run treatment centers in Mexico City,
          whose numbers have increased from 4,500 to 13,500 in the last six years, marijuana remains the drug
          of choice for most adolescents, health officials report. But cocaine, particularly crack, ranked second --
          before cheaper choices like glue and paint thinner.

          The government has responded to the problem with increased funding to its own drug treatment
          centers. It has also created a public service campaign called "Live Without Drugs." The campaign
          includes radio and television announcements, educational programs in schools and a Web site that
          answers questions about drug abuse.

          In cities across the country, including Culiacan, Ciudad Victoria, San Luis Potosi and Hermosillo, the
          police have proposed a program known as Operation Backpack, which would allow them to search
          students for drugs and weapons, although some parents have expressed reservations. Parents have
          started community patrols around school playgrounds and parks.

          Compared with the voracious consumption of drugs in the United States, Mexico's drug problem
          remains small. But to Gonzalez even one drug-addicted child is too many. "Every day I see how drugs
          are destroying young people," Gonzalez said.

As in the United States, drug abuse in Mexico is spreading fastest in poor communities where
unemployment is high and education levels are low, Gonzalez said.

          Ms. Acevedo, a flirtatious girl who dyes her hair strawberry blond and wears sparkly pink lipstick, ran
          away from a shattered family. She said her mother, a waitress, and her father, a street vendor, began
          using drugs when she was just an infant. Both would stay away from home for days at a time, leaving
          her to beg for food from neighbors for herself and her three younger brothers.

At 11, she said, she began stealing her parents' drugs and hiding in the cluster of fruit trees in her
backyard to get high.

"The first time I ever got high, I thought, this is what life is supposed to be," she said. "I had found
something that would fill the emptiness."

She ran away at 12 and lived in train stations or abandoned offices. Last October she nearly died from
an overdose.

"All I wanted was drugs," she recalled. "Suffering for me was when I didn't have anything to get to
make me high."

          When it opened 10 years ago, the Fundacion Dr. Sergio Berumen primarily served alcoholic adults,
          who needed a place to dry out so they could go home to their families. Over the last five years,
          Gonzalez said, younger people started coming for help, and they were addicted to drugs, not alcohol.

          Today, Gonzalez said, more than 80 percent of the residents are drug addicts between 13 and 20. The
          white metal front door is almost always left open, Gonzalez said. Residents are free to leave anytime
          they please.

Group meetings are held five times a day for the residents to talk with one another about their
addictions and any other distress.

At a recent meeting, the 19-year-old Salazar spoke from the podium for more than 15 minutes. This
time of year is especially hard for him, he said, echoing the feelings of many in the room.

It hurt, he said, that he could not celebrate the holidays with his 8-month-old son.

"I want to be with my family," he said. "But I am afraid of what I would do if someone offered me
drugs.

"I wonder if I will ever feel ready to go home."