Pubdate: Tue, 5 Jan 2010
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2009 El Paso Times
Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/formnewsroom
Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829
Author: Diana Washington Valdez

DRUG ADDICTION TRENDS TO YOUTHS, MORE VIOLENCE

EL PASO -- Today's addicts use the Internet and text messages to
obtain drugs, and they are more dangerous than ever.

"We are seeing younger and more violent addicts," said Chilo Madrid,
director of Aliviane Inc., which runs drug treatment centers in El
Paso. "It's not unusual to see an 18-year-old who has been addicted
for three or four years, who's had two or three sexually transmitted
diseases, who's belonged to two gangs and who's been shot at more than
once."

Because a drug cartel is parked next door in Juarez, drugs are cheap
and easy to come by in El Paso.

Madrid estimated that El Paso has 150,000 addicts. That equates to
about 20 percent of the county's estimated population of 742,000. He
said the estimate is based on Aliviane clients and information
provided by other treatment and recovery programs.

"We do a lot of street research, and we know for a fact that we have
30,000 hard-core heroin users in El Paso, and lot more people who use
cocaine on the weekends," Madrid said. Aliviane is considered the
biggest provider of drug treatment and rehabilitation services on the
border.

On its Web site, the Recovery Alliance of El Paso, which operates the
Casa Vida de Salud recovery center, said: "People in every state of
this nation -- over 100,000 in El Paso alone -- are affected by this
chronic illness."

Lydia Smith, Recovery Alliance's director, said the organization's
estimate includes alcoholism and is a conservative figure.

"People still view addicts as junkies living under a bridge," Smith
said. "... But we have people who ran hospital departments in this
city who were let go because of addiction problems."

An estimated 23.1 million people nationwide age 12 and older were in
need of treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol problem, according to
the Drug Enforcement Administration. Of them, 2.3 million received
treatment at a specialty center, the DEA estimated.

The Substance Abuse & Mental Health Administration reported in 2008
that 9.24 percent of Texans -- 2.2 million people -- abused both
alcohol and illicit drugs.

In Texas Region 10, which includes El Paso and five other West Texas
counties, 8.52 percent of the population abused alcohol and illicit
drugs. The region had a higher percentage of illicit drug abuse, 2.97
percent, than the state's 2.77 figure. The mental health
administration adjusted for populations in each region.

"It's hard to come by accurate numbers of addicts in cities," said
Jane Maxwell, a senior research scientist at the University of Texas
Addiction Research Institute. "It's difficult because they're hidden.
I don't think anybody really knows."

Unlike rehab centers that receive public money, private companies are
not required to report cases. Max well also said researchers needed
figures from Mexico to get a more complete picture of the problem on
the border.

Nevertheless, Maxwell said, drug abuse surveys and other research
point to a need for more resources in Texas to treat people with
alcohol and drug addictions.

"When we started out in this field, a hit of heroin (a quarter gram)
cost $25," Madrid said. "Now, people can get the same quantity for
$2.50 a hit. The same is true for cocaine. A hit of cocaine is about
two lines."

"They don't go to Juarez or to shooting galleries anymore. People get
the drugs by texting on their cell phones. Whereas before, your heroin
users were older, we're now seeing kids as young as 16 who are trying
heroin and cocaine for the first time."

The notorious Ignacia Jasso, or La Nacha, controlled the distribution
of heroin, cocaine and marijuana in Juarez from the mid-1920s to the
mid-1950s. She passed the business on to her children.

Now, because of drug cartel violence, rehabilitation programs in
Juarez are unstable.

Juarez also has about 150,000 addicts in need of treatment, according
to Sergio Nogueria, CEO of the Associacion Mexican de Alcoholicos y
Adictos en Rehabilitacion in Juarez.

Nogueria's program was forced to close after extortionists burned down
his center last year.

Under the Merida Initiative, the Mexican government said it planned to
build 300 treatment centers throughout Mexico to deal with addiction.
Nogueria said that Juarez has one such center but that it provides
only primary care referrals.

The binational Rio Grande Safe Communities Coalition, which previously
concentrated on deterring underage drinking, has added marijuana to
its awareness and prevention campaigns.

"We learned from a school survey of seventh-to 12th-graders that
youths in El Paso tend to abuse alcohol, tobacco and marijuana," said
Mary Ellen Hernandez, the coalition's executive director. "We're
trying to find out more about what's going on out there and how to
address it."

Madrid said experts still consider marijuana to be a gateway drug to
harder drug use.

The Community Anti-Drug Coalition of America says "marijuana use among
adolescents has increased gradually over the past two years after
years of declining use."

However, alcohol and tobacco are also addictive substances that
attract youths from an early age. In Texas, it is illegal to sell
alcohol to people younger than 21 and to sell tobacco to those younger
than 18.

Hernandez said recent telephone surveys found that El Paso youths
could easily obtain alcohol from adults, including their parents. As a
result, the coalition launched its "Those Who Host Lose the Most"
education campaign aimed at adults.

Among other things, the campaign encourages the public to report to
police any parties and other settings where underage drinking occurs.

"We have a big problem in our community with adults providing youths
with alcohol," said Adriana Cadena, the campaign's project
coordinator.

Providing alcohol to minors is a class A misdemeanor in Texas,
punishable by a fine of up to $4,000, a year in jail and a driver's
license suspension for up to six months.

"Some of the kids at parties where there is drinking will text others
to let them know that alcohol is available, and the parties start to
get out of hand," Cadena said. "The situations can lead to unprotected
sex, violence and DWI."

Hernandez said she is concerned that grant money for prevention
programs is on the decline. The Rio Grande Safe Communities Coalition
and other organizations depend on federal grant money to sustain
awareness and educational programs.

Nationally, about two-thirds of the $15 billion anti-drug federal
budget for this year is earmarked for drug interdiction and other law
enforcement activities. By comparison, $1.6 billion was set aside for
prevention and $3.6 billion for treatment.

The amount for prevention is less than what it was in the 2009 and
2008 federal budgets.

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Administration officials said more
resources will be needed to treat aging baby boomers, who have a
higher prevalence of drug abuse than the rest of the population.

[sidebar]

SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Alcohol and illicit drug dependence in the past year by state and regions:

State/region Alcohol Illicit drugs Both

Texas 7.84% 2.77% 9.24%

Region 10 (El Paso) 7%  2.97%  8.52%

Region 11 (Brownsville) 7.34% 3.04% 8.66%

Region 8 (San Antonio) 8.29%  2.60%  9.44%

Region 6-a (Houston) 8.21% 2.55% 9.52%

Source: Substance Abuse & Mental Health Administration, 2004-2008 reports;
drugs include marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants and
prescription-type medications.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake