Topic: 2024-Substance Abuse
Country: Mexico
Delegate Name: Dattasai Bobba
Committee: ECOSOC
Topic: Substance Abuse
Country: Mexico
School: Portage Central High School
Substance abuse is an extremely impactful topic in Mexico, now more than ever. Mexico itself produces opium and marijuana and it also serves as a route for cocaine transportation into the US, which has naturally led to the use and abuse of these substances among Mexicans themselves. In 1998, it was found that half of Mexico’s population used alcohol, about a quarter smoked actively and 43% used one or more drugs besides alcohol and tobacco. The issue of illicit substance abuse is closely linked to the issue of Mexican cartels, who are the primary distributors of these substances. Because these cartels smuggle illegal drugs into the United States, the US government has also played a role in Mexican substance abuse as it tries to stop the transport of illegal drugs across the US-Mexico border.
Mexico has taken part in several UN treaties such as the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and Convention on Psychotropic Substances which aim to regulate the production, transportation, and use of substances. Mexico has also received assistance from the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime to fight the trafficking of drugs. Additionally, the UN has passed several resolutions to help Mexico (and other countries in similar situations) move away from economies so related to drugs and into more stable states.
Mexico considers the possession of many drugs to be a crime, but it allows some drugs like opium, heroin, cocaine, LSD, and cannabis to be possessed in very small quantities. This is in part because in Mexico, the outright prohibition of some drugs can be considered a violation of the constitutional right to health, one of the key principles of Mexican drug policy. Other principles include: the right to freely develop one’s personality, policies tailored to local communities, effective access to information, medication, and treatment, and respect for human rights. In general, Mexico is guided by principles tailored to prevent encroachments on the individual’s rights and freedoms.
In order to respect individual rights and freedoms, the best way to deal with less addictive substances in Mexico would not be forceful like outright banning them, but rather the establishment of programs to help individuals stop using these substances and put other laws in place to encourage them to stop. To deal with illegal drugs, the greater problem is not the drugs themselves but the cartels producing and transporting them. To stop these cartels, military force would likely be required and it would be most helpful for Mexico to cooperate with the US to stop trafficking.
Work Cited
Drug Policy in Mexico: The Cause of a National Tragedyâ, ycsg.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/drug_policy_in_mexico_%20cause_of_a_national_tragedy.pdf. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
Medina-Mora ME;Tapia CR;Rascón ML;Solache G;Otero BR;Lazcano F;Mariño MC; “[Epidemiological Status of Drug Abuse in Mexico].” Boletin de La Oficina Sanitaria Panamericana. Pan American Sanitary Bureau, U.S. National Library of Medicine, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2532902/. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
Mexico: Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations, sgp.fas.org/crs/row/R41576.pdf. Accessed 24 Nov. 2024.
Partlow, Joshua. “Mexico’s Drug Trade Hits Home.” The Washington Post, 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/world/mexico-s-drug-traffic-is-now-hitting-home/#:~:text=While%20rates%20of%20drug%20use,to%20the%20latest%20national%20survey. Accessed 2024.
