With Jalisco at the heart of Mexico’s methamphetamine industry, consumption of the illicit drug has increased rapidly in recent years.
According to the State Council on Addictions in Jalisco (CECAJ), use of methamphetamine has risen more than any other drug in the state since 1998.
Just 0.1 percent of young drug users had taken methamphetamine in 1998 but by 2010 this had risen to 5.5 percent. Metamphetamine is now the sixth most used drug in Jalisco, behind alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine and inhalants.
{/access}While drug trafficking has long been a problem in Mexico, consumption has remained relatively low, with the vast majority of drugs destined for the United States, the world’s largest market for illicit substances.
The recent rise in consumption is linked to increased availability, with methamphetamine production having shot up in Jalisco in recent years.
In 2006 only six drug labs were uncovered in Jalisco, but this figure rose to 46 in 2009 and 71 in 2011. In total, 156 drug labs have been uncovered across the state since 2007.
Of these, 18 were discovered in the municipality of Zapopan, 15 in Tequila and 13 in Tlajomulco. Most notably, authorities seized a record haul of 15 tons of pure methamphetamine at a Tlajomulco ranch in February. It was worth up to a staggering 58 billion pesos or 4.5 billion dollars at street level in the United States.{access !public}