North America

Teenage drug use has doubled in Mexico in five years, but among teenage girls it has soared 205%.

 The number of youths aged 12 to 17 that have used illegal drugs increased from just under 3% in 2011 to just over 6% last year.

 Marijuana is Mexico’s most popular drug, while heroin use is described as minimal despite the fact that Mexico is Latin America’s biggest producer and the world’s third biggest, meaning authorities need to keep the drug in check, said Manuel Mondragón y Kalb, head of the National Commission Against Addictions (Conadic).

Mexican scientists and researchers are forced to seek employment and career development abroad due to a lack of infrastructure and resources as well as government corruption that prevent them from advancing in their work, say Mexican academics based in the United States.