In Mexicana border town with USAranks first for the safe consumption of drugs in Latin America, created for the purpose prevent overdose deaths on the streets of Mexico.

Roomas the space is known where vulnerable consumers congregate, conducts tests to identify the class of drugs most commonly consumed in Mexicali. The test reveals within minutes whether the drug is contaminated with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid looming as a global threat.

Since 2019 “there is not a single heroin test that is not positive for fentanylSaid Slim, coordinator of Verter, the NGO that La Sala founded in 2018, told AFP. There, users receive consumption kits that prevent hepatitis or HIV infections and monitor their health.

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Mexicali is suffering the blow of the synthetic opioid crisis in the United States, where since last August, more than 70,000 people have died under the influence of these substancesmainly fentanyl.

In Mexicali they are served daily between three and six deaths of drug users due to overdoses, explains Carlos Romero, deputy director of police and transit of that border city to AFP. The official adds that some deaths occur in the streets, others in clandestine places of consumption and still others in homes.

Julio Buenrostro, coordinator of the Red Cross, indicates that overdoses represent up to 25% of emergencies attended. However, with naloxone “we were able to save a lot of lives.”

A Mexican Red Cross paramedic talks to Said Slim about refilling naloxone for drug users who overdose. Photo: Guillermo Arias/AFP

Washington points to the Mexican cartels as predominant in the production and trade of opioids, and the issue dominates the binational agenda.

But the Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obradordenies that it is produced in Mexico and assures that it is imported from China, after which the cartels make pills that are easy to trade due to their size.

López Obrador also condemns the United States’ decision to allow the over-the-counter sale of fentanyl to halt mortality, arguing that this does not “get to the bottom of the problem”, and analyzes the ban of fentanyl as a pain reliever.