Legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol are the most consumed in the population of Jalisco.
However, today the drug with the greatest impact is methamphetamine, and recently the use of methamphetamines in adolescents has increased. In 2020, almost 60% of those who requested support to be treated for problems of use of addictive substances manifested their dependence with synthetic drugs.
Talking about addictive substances represents a real challenge because it talks about the person and their way of life, because it puts all the areas in which they operate under question.
The Jalisco Health Secretariat (SSJ,) through the State Council Against Addictions in Jalisco (CECAJ,) held a virtual talk on the subject of substance addiction and specifically methamphetamines.
During his first speech, the technical secretary of CECAJ, Pedro Briones Casillas, said that Mexico has a characteristic that other countries do not have and that is its proximity to the United States of America, a country that is the largest drug user in the world, promoting lifestyles through television series, and now platforms that adolescents have been copying the lifestyle to become like them.
The specialist pointed out that the social environment plays an important role in consumer behavior. “The family must play a protective role, but we see that they became a very high risk factor since it is with the members of the family themselves with who the young people are starting to use substances,” indicated the technical secretary.
The alternatives are to seek specialized care through CECAJ and the Centers for Primary Care in Addictions (CAPAS,) "since people with problematic substance use need support, not punishment," he added.
CECAJ provides guidance, training, and attention not only to those who consume it, but also to parents so that they are attentive to changes in children's behavior such as sleep disorders, change of friends, change in their way of dressing, or aggressive behavior.
The consultations in the CAPAS are totally free and there are currently 7 within the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, and 13 more distributed in the interior of the State, including an office in Puerto Vallarta which can be found on Azalea Street in Colonia 24 de Febrero, tel 322 281 6699.
"Addictions are a disease that begins to develop at the moment the person had the pattern of consumption, and unfortunately when you want to take a remedy it is because there have already been serious consequences. In the process of the development of addictions we must know that if it is attended to on time, people can be rehabilitated,” concluded the technical secretary.
Luis Javier Robles Arellano, head of the Epidemiological Surveillance System of Addictions in CECAJ, explained that over time what has changed is the type of drugs that appear. They are new drugs with different ways of being consumed, and mostly it's methamphetamines.
"Initially, methamphetamines were consumed as drugs to stay awake, improve alertness, but given the addictive power they began to be controlled and then began the production of drugs that are similar but with much more power. Therefore methamphetamines correspond to the group of the stimulant drugs… cataloged within the group of synthetics that are manufactured without any kind of care and vigilance.”
They are considered to be highly toxic substances and act on the nervous system causing a pleasant sensation in the initial stages of consumption, which makes it addictive. Subsequently the person will gradually consume larger amounts and more frequently, becoming very difficult to stop using it.
"Unfortunately, these substances have a predilection or are consumed mostly by adolescents, which indicates that young people are the ones who will have damage to their health and some irreversibly," said the specialist.
Consumption has repercussions at any stage of life. When it is consumed before it matures, the brain will present permanent damage, severely influencing its development and rather quickly, since only six months of its consumption may cause health problems to appear.
The damage can occur to the gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, muscular, dental, an elevation of body temperature, and direct damage to the kidneys.
Likewise, it also causes disorders in people who live directly with the person, damage in the family, social, academic, economic, and problems in the workplace.
"It is important to go to the specialists to be able to guide people in a complete, correct, and effective way in relation to the problem that the family member presents, and avoid falling into the wrong hands," concluded the expert.
Finally, María Isabel Sánchez Rizo, a psychologist attached to the Live Without Addictions Program, pointed out that the age of onset to have contact with this type of substance is increasingly reduced, where the first contact occurs with alcohol and with tobacco.
"We have heard many times that there are different types of drugs but many times we fail to understand what the cost of each one of them is," said the psychologist.
For more information, contact the State Council Against Addictions in Jalisco, Telephone Orientation Center 800 536 94 44 or the official page: www.cecaj
Or you can call or stop by the office in Puerto Vallarta which can be found on Azalea Street in Colonia 24 de Febrero, tel 322 281 6699.