Young People Are Now Trying Modified Pot And Liquid Ecstasy

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

12% of the population of the Youth Integration Centers (CIJ) has tried modified marijuana, DMT, dextromethorphan, horse sedative and cough syrup. Consumption begins at the age of 16.

Modified marijuana, cough and liquid ecstasy; These are the new popular consumer drugs

They discover new types of drugs in circulation.

In addition to marijuana, cocaine or methamphetamines, around 12 percent of the population, in the 120 Youth Integration Centers (CIJ) in Mexico, claim to have consumed what is known as new substances of abuse at some point in their lives.

Nicotine in electronic devices, of course, but also modified marijuana with high THC content, hashish in the form of oil or honey, or fentanyl, are some of the new drugs detected in the ICJ epidemiological reports from 2021 to date.

In the statistics there are also consumers of dextromethorphan - which comes in cough syrups - and ketamine, the drug that caused the death of the star of the Friends series, Matthew Perry, which serves as a tranquilizer for horses and is part of the treatment of people with severe depression.

Hallucinogens such as salvia divinorum, ayahuasca and DMT (dimethyltryptamine) – used in shamanic and spiritual rituals – are also part of this group.

Another narcotic on the list is GHB, known as “liquid ecstasy,” but which has a depressant effect opposite to the stimulation caused by ecstasy.

José Ángel Prado, director of Operation and Boards of Trustees of Youth Integration Centers, explained that the so-called new substances of abuse are actually not new, since many were synthesized several decades ago.

They are defined as new either because they recently appeared on the market, they are given a use that they did not previously have or they are chemically modified so as not to be subject to control by international organizations, indicates the specialist.

“With misleading names and market strategies, they evade legal and health controls and are distributed through cyber means, on social networks or in health food stores.”

“In general, they are not sold by drug dealers, they can be sent through parcel services and paid for with virtual currencies (cryptocurrencies) such as bitcoin. Its presence has been detected in more than one hundred countries,” notes the book What you need to know about drugs, published by the ICJ.

Prado points out that so far these drugs do not represent a reason for alert in the country, as is the case with methamphetamines, alcohol or marijuana.

From what age do people start using drugs?

Starting in the first half of 2021, the ICJ began the registration and monitoring of new substances of abuse in their patients due to the proliferation of narcotics that are not covered by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 or the 1971 Convention, the main treaties that make up the international legal framework for drug control.

In its latest report, corresponding to the first half of 2023, the CIJ indicates that 1,337 patients, out of a universe of 10,843 treated in that period, reported having consumed at least one new drug, this is equivalent to 12.3% of the entire population. of the ICJ.

And between January 2021 and June 2023, more than 4,300 cases of recent drug use were detected.

Since the ICJ began collecting these statistics, cases of vaping, modified marijuana, DMT, fentanyl, dextromethorphan and ketamine have been on the rise.

The age of initiation of consumption of many of these substances ranges between 16 and 17 years. Others begin to be tested after reaching the age of majority. This is the case of stimulant designer drugs (20 years), ketamine (23 years) and fentanyl (23 years).

The number of fentanyl users increases

The latest report from the ICJ highlights the increase in the consumption of fentanyl, a drug that has become relevant for leading the crisis of overdose deaths that is plaguing the United States.

According to CIJ data, cases of fentanyl consumption among their patients increased from 19 in 2021 to 68 in 2022. For the first half of 2023, 51 cases were detected.

The states where the most people have been treated are Sinaloa, Coahuila, Quintana Roo, Baja California, Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Jalisco, Guanajuato, State of Mexico and Mexico City.

Cases have also been detected in centers in Tlaxcala, Sonora, Aguascalientes, Querétaro, Guerrero, Veracruz, Chiapas, Oaxaca and Puebla.

Although fentanyl consumption in Mexico does not represent a serious problem like in the United States. José Ángel Prado believes that it is a phenomenon that has the potential to grow if attention is not paid to it.

“We know that something is happening in the national territory. People who were traditionally dedicated to planting, producing and selling opium and heroin are giving up. Five years ago a kilo of opium cost 35 thousand pesos, now it costs less than 4 thousand. Why did it collapse? Due to the entry of fentanyl. One hectare produces 16 kilos of opium and 16 kilos of opium produces one kilo of heroin, and you need five months. In two hours, in a laboratory in a house, they produce a kilo of fentanyl, which is 50 times more powerful than heroin.”

Prado is also concerned about electronic cigarettes. He warns that people lose perception of risk because he believes that vapes are less harmful than regular cigarettes.

“What they don't know is that in addition to nicotine, other aerosols are being introduced that are potentially dangerous, and that can cause emphysema and other types of problems,” he warns.

The government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promoted legal measures to stop the marketing of vapers in the country.

On October 22, 2021, a decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation that prohibits the import of these devices. Months later, on May 31, 2022, it published another to prevent its circulation and marketing in Mexican territory; However, this was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Following the resolution, López Obrador presented a new reform initiative regarding toxic substances that seeks to prohibit the production, distribution and sale of electronic cigarettes.

In addition, it proposes stopping the production, distribution and disposal of chemical precursors and synthetic drugs such as fentanyl.

Milenio