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 Health & Beauty | August 2007 
Seized Drug Money Will Build Treatment Centers For Addicts
 Anna Cearley - San Diego Union-Tribune
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 |  | I hope all the money that is recovered from the drug traffickers can be used for treatment of addictions.
- José Guadalupe Bustamante |  | |
Tijuana – Part of the millions of dollars confiscated by Mexican authorities in a high-profile drug case this year will be used to build treatment centers for drug addicts in Baja California, according to state authorities.
“It's a great idea,” said José Guadalupe Bustamante Moreno, the state's secretary of health. “I hope all the money that is recovered from the drug traffickers can be used for treatment of addictions.”
In March, Mexican authorities confiscated $207 million from the house of a Chinese-Mexican businessman, Zhenli Ye Gon. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has called it the largest seizure of money in the history of drug enforcement.
U.S. authorities, who arrested Ye Gon in Maryland in July, allege he was involved in the production in Mexico of methamphetamine that was destined for the United States. He's also wanted in Mexico on organized crime, drug trafficking and weapons charges. Ye Gon has said he is innocent.
The Mexican government is distributing part of the confiscated money to build treatment centers around the country. Baja California will receive about $2 million to build 14 centers, Bustamante said.
He said the states will be responsible for managing the centers, which will provide medical and psychological assistance for addicts.
They won't function as rehabilitation centers where patients stay overnight, he said, but they will serve as starting points for people to seek help.
Health authorities said the community centers will allow them to detect illnesses that are sometimes transmitted through drug use, such as AIDS or hepatitis C. They will offer counseling and support groups and refer patients to comprehensive rehabilitation centers that offer in-patient care, Bustamante said.
So far, the state has decided to place four centers in Tijuana, four in Mexicali, three in Ensenada and one in San Quintin. The state is poring through city maps looking for specific places to put the centers and expects to start construction next month.
“We are looking for the most conflictive areas in crime and addiction,” Bustamante said.
José Hector Acosta, who oversees patient services at Tijuana's Centro de Integración Juvenil, which provides in-patient rehabilitation programs, said the extra funds will be helpful.
Drug addicts constitute 1.4 percent – or 42,000 – of the state's population of roughly 3 million, according to statistics he has collected. The number is about twice the national figure, he said.
“The community needs to have personnel trained in addictions so they can receive diagnostic primary care and be directed for treatment, ” he said.
Anna Cearley: (619) 542-4595; anna.cearley@uniontrib.com |
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