Facing the worrying, painful and difficult that is the consumption and trafficking of drugs in Mexico and in the world, what encourages the Minister of Health of this country, José Narro Robles, is the possibility that those who have to do with the solution of this delicate subject can meet.

Drug consumption and trafficking in the world and in the country is a worrying, painful and difficult issue, with a little encouraging scenario, said Health Minister José Narro Robles. However, what encourages the Minister is the possibility that can meet those who have to do with this delicate subject.

At the ceremony to commemorate the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Narro Robles acknowledged that this problem represents a pending issue and that it is necessary to fight it with all energy in prevention and treatment. He explained that the reported data on drug use, traffic and drug gains are worrisome.

Some of them, from the National Survey on the Use of Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco (ENCODAT) 2016-2017 (former National Survey of Addictions), show that 9.9% of the Mexican population between 12 and 65 years old (8.4 million people), have used illegal drugs at some point in their lives, an increase of 47% over 2011, when 5.7 million people reported consumption. This increase was greater in women, which rose from 926 thousand in 2011 to 3.9 million in 2016-2017.

The National Commissioner Against Addictions, Manuel Mondragón y Kalb estimated that 880, 800 Mexican adolescents have ever used illegal drugs, a figure that shows a 125% increase over the 395,000 adolescents reported in 2011.

To prevent and treat addictions, Narro Robles explained, Mexico has about 120 Juvenile Integration Centers, 340 Primary Care Centers for Addictions, and about 200 recognized private centers.

"The damage that generates on an individual level, the deaths, the hell to which people are subjected, the collapse of families and the weakening of social structures have to continue to compromise us," he said.

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