Mexico faces rise in methamphetamine consumption; prepares campaign to confront it

So far in President Sheinbaum’s government, 1,760 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were destroyed; from October 2024 to December 2025.

Since February of this year, the president recognized the increase in methamphetamine consumption and announced that a campaign will be implemented to prevent the consumption of this drug that he described as poisonous.

“The drug that has increased the most, according to different sources, is the consumption of methamphetamines. Now, after fentanyl, we are going to go to a very important campaign to methamphetamines, which is also a highly addictive druga chemical drug produced, in addition, with a number of substances, we could even say poisonous, that generate many health problems,” he stated.

Methamphetamines are synthetic nervous system stimulants and a derivative of amphetamines, which are used for medical treatments such as anxiety. Over the years, this substance has become a high-impact drug; it can be ingested, snorted, smoked or injected.

In states such as Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Michoacán, part of the violence is related to methamphetamine trafficking.

Increased consumption of other drugs

Methamphetamine was not the only drug whose consumption increased in the last nine years. According to the survey, other substances such as marijuana, cocaine and hallucinogens They also showed increases.

He Cannabis was positioned as the most consumed illegal drug in the “ever” modality. In the last nine years, its consumption rose from 8.6% to 12%, which represents an increase in the user population: it went from 7 million 374,195 to 11 million 068,020 people.

Regarding consumption in the last year, a more pronounced growth was also observed, going from 2.1% to 2.5%, which is equivalent to an increase from 1 million 821,621 to 2 million 273,840 estimated users.

Cocaine use in the “ever” tried category registered a slight increase, going from 3.5% to 3.6%. However, in the consumption indicator in the last year a decrease was observed: it fell from 0.8% to 0.5%.