Crystal clear drug choice for Mexico addicts
As Mexico’s war on drugs rages on, the use of crystal methamphetamine – also known as “crystal meth” or “ice” – continues to rise.
Addictive and affordable, it’s become a major player in the country’s massive drug trade.
From Tijuana, Al Jazeera‘s Mariana Sanchez has more.
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.
Mexico’s battle to stop drug gangs using the country as a trafficking route is nothing new in the Americas – in the 1970s, cocaine was exported to the US from Colombia.
With Washington’s help, Bogota was eventually able to weaken the cartels but not stop the trade, now focused on Mexico, home to the most powerful drug cartels, where the fight continues.
Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman reports from Bogota, Colombia’s capital, on the battle against drug trafficking.