Yes, Juárez Homicides Are Up: But

Tijuana is Worse

The homicide count for 2018 in Tijuana is 2502, or thereabouts.  This compares with half as many homicides, 1247, in Juaritos.  It is spiking pretty much for the same reasons it is up in Cd. Juárez:  there is a continual battle over turf between drug gangs for the right to sell drugs on the street.

This raises the question:  what kinds of social forces are at work to make the demand for heroin, coke, crystal meth, and other chemical substances escalate so quickly?  Twenty years ago there was virtually no demand for these drugs in either city. 

Availability of these drugs is part of the answer.  Twenty years ago there were no street gangs pushing drugs at every street corner.  Now, according to estimates, there are 6000 street pushers spread throughout Juárez, in a population of 1.5 million.  That amounts to one pusher for every 250 persons.  Since about 20% of Juárez is between 15-24, this would mean there is one drug pusher for every Juarense who is between 15-24 years of age.  It's not hard to find heroin and a syringe in Juárez.

But are there other forces at work on the demand side?  Is the family unit in Juarez and Tijuana breaking down as it did in the US in the 1980s and 1990s?  Is the evolution of society alienating young people?  Do young people have too much idle time?

Is there a roll for us, as neighbors, to play in all of this?