Emir Olivares and Alonso Urrutia
La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, January 8, 2025, p. 3
Given the problem that drug consumption has become on a global scale, yesterday the federal government launched the national and permanent campaign Stay away from Drugs: Fentanyl Kills you, which focuses on avoiding the consumption of these substances, in particular that synthetic opioid.
President Claudia Sheinbaum reiterated that in Mexico there is no problem with fentanyl consumption, as there is in the United States. However, hours later in a video on social networks he emphasized that a health crisis due to the ingestion of that drug in our country must be avoided.
We do not want this fentanyl crisis in some cities in the United States to reach Mexico.
. The material shows some images showing people addicted to that substance: I am seeing terrible scenes from some cities in the United States that have a crisis of a drug called fentanyl, which has this characteristic of alleviating pain, but which is very, very addictive.
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In this framework, the Secretary of Health, David Kershenobich, pointed out that recent indicators reveal that in the country there is a decrease in the use of cannabinoids but that of methamphetamines has increased.
Most of the drugs consumed are more or less in a stable state, significant, but stable. Methamphetamines are probably the most important consumption we have, and yet fentanyl is the most significant in the sense of mortality and damage it produces.
The President stated that the idea is that teachers, parents have information, know what behavior changes with a son or daughter, and if they are approaching drugs, or may have tried some drugs; that there be communication in the family and especially among young people
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The head of the SEP, Mario Delgado, presented the strategy in public and private schools at the secondary and upper secondary level. The idea is to hold 35 thousand assemblies in secondary schools and 13 thousand in high schools with students, parents and teachers to talk about the risks of these substances.
Talks will be held in the classrooms, in which teachers will explain the dangers and provide information about addictions, in two or three sessions per week of 10 to 15 minutes, for nine weeks.
The target population, he noted, is 11.8 million students of both academic levels. The efforts will start on January 13 in secondary schools and on February 4 in upper secondary schools.
500,000 information posters will be distributed and 1,448 billboards will be installed.
The page lineadelavida.gob.mx was also presented, where more information can be consulted. A miniseries with five-minute chapters was also released detailing how the opioid addiction crisis began in the United States.
