No one knows how many young people are joining the drug traffickers, but it is luring many.
The illegal business is worth an estimated $80 billion dollars a year.
According to a US State Department official, thats drawn an estimated 150 thousand Mexicans to the illegal drug trade and fueled the violence.
For them, the answer is simple: the government must remove the economic incentive for trafficking drugs by legalising them.
Al Jazeera’s Franc Contreras reports from Mexico.