Mexico battles drug addiction

MEXICO CITY, July 28 (UPI) -- Health officials report drug addiction is a growing problem in Mexico since the government's crackdown on cartels and stepped-up U.S. border enforcement.

Mexico's Health Department says the number of new patients at drug treatment centers in the country quadrupled between 2000 and 2006, The Arizona Republic reported Monday.

"We used to think of drug traffickers as people who took drugs through Mexico to the United States," Mexican President Felipe Calderon told addiction counselors. "But their goal is no longer to just get drugs to the United States but rather to get it on the domestic market."

Addiction experts say the problem is not just along the border but in Mexico City, as well.

What most alarms them, they say, is the appearance of crystal meth in Mexico.

"The cartels are taking over the American meth supply, and they are getting Mexicans addicted, too," says Richardo Sanchez of the Mexican Health Department.

Mexico has boosted funding for addition treatment programs from $14.3 million to $76.2 million.