Experiences and perceptions of people who use heroin: public health lessons from Hermosillo, Mexico
Abstract: Heroin consumption in Mexico is low compared with its use in the United States; however, this practice is more common in the northern region of Mexico than in the rest of the country, being documented only in cities that are located exactly at the Mexico-U.S. border. The Mexican legal fram...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz
2018-11-01
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| Series: | Cadernos de Saúde Pública |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X2018001105008&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1818822437641388032 |
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| author | Silvia Magali Cuadra-Hernández Sergio Salazar-Arriola Armando Arredondo-López María Beatriz Duarte-Gómez Verónica Cuadra-Hernández Celina Rueda-Neria |
| author_facet | Silvia Magali Cuadra-Hernández Sergio Salazar-Arriola Armando Arredondo-López María Beatriz Duarte-Gómez Verónica Cuadra-Hernández Celina Rueda-Neria |
| author_sort | Silvia Magali Cuadra-Hernández |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract: Heroin consumption in Mexico is low compared with its use in the United States; however, this practice is more common in the northern region of Mexico than in the rest of the country, being documented only in cities that are located exactly at the Mexico-U.S. border. The Mexican legal framework is focused on rehabilitation, but its effects on the lives of users are unknown. The objective of this research was to analyze how the regulatory Mexican framework is conceptualized and practiced in the daily life of a group of heroin users from a northern city, where consumption has recently spread and has not been documented. We collected the official registered data from users and conducted a qualitative study in Hermosillo, Sonora. A research on the legal framework was conducted, as well as on the city’s context. Data on heroin users can be found at HIV health center, as there is no other source of such records. The Mexican legal framework aims at rehabilitation and at avoiding criminalization; however, the daily life of users drives them towards crime circuits: people commit crimes to stay in prison, where they can control the addiction and get heroin, in case of abstinence. The Mexican State has no empirical information to improve its programs and laws related to the use of heroin. The daily practices of users become not only epidemiological but social risks to the community and to the users themselves. Also, the lack of access due to stigmatization, criminalization and violence, increases the inequities, creating a cycle that reproduces poverty and suffering as part of a social structure. Therefore, changes are needed in the justice system. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:24:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-79b46b6f154c4e2b945e82f87f951ee6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1678-4464 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:24:04Z |
| publishDate | 2018-11-01 |
| publisher | Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cadernos de Saúde Pública |
| spelling | doaj.art-79b46b6f154c4e2b945e82f87f951ee62022-12-21T20:47:52ZengEscola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo CruzCadernos de Saúde Pública1678-44642018-11-01341110.1590/0102-311x00179417S0102-311X2018001105008Experiences and perceptions of people who use heroin: public health lessons from Hermosillo, MexicoSilvia Magali Cuadra-HernándezSergio Salazar-ArriolaArmando Arredondo-LópezMaría Beatriz Duarte-GómezVerónica Cuadra-HernándezCelina Rueda-NeriaAbstract: Heroin consumption in Mexico is low compared with its use in the United States; however, this practice is more common in the northern region of Mexico than in the rest of the country, being documented only in cities that are located exactly at the Mexico-U.S. border. The Mexican legal framework is focused on rehabilitation, but its effects on the lives of users are unknown. The objective of this research was to analyze how the regulatory Mexican framework is conceptualized and practiced in the daily life of a group of heroin users from a northern city, where consumption has recently spread and has not been documented. We collected the official registered data from users and conducted a qualitative study in Hermosillo, Sonora. A research on the legal framework was conducted, as well as on the city’s context. Data on heroin users can be found at HIV health center, as there is no other source of such records. The Mexican legal framework aims at rehabilitation and at avoiding criminalization; however, the daily life of users drives them towards crime circuits: people commit crimes to stay in prison, where they can control the addiction and get heroin, in case of abstinence. The Mexican State has no empirical information to improve its programs and laws related to the use of heroin. The daily practices of users become not only epidemiological but social risks to the community and to the users themselves. Also, the lack of access due to stigmatization, criminalization and violence, increases the inequities, creating a cycle that reproduces poverty and suffering as part of a social structure. Therefore, changes are needed in the justice system.http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X2018001105008&lng=en&tlng=enHeroin DependenceSocial StigmaViolenceQualitative Analysis |
| spellingShingle | Silvia Magali Cuadra-Hernández Sergio Salazar-Arriola Armando Arredondo-López María Beatriz Duarte-Gómez Verónica Cuadra-Hernández Celina Rueda-Neria Experiences and perceptions of people who use heroin: public health lessons from Hermosillo, Mexico Cadernos de Saúde Pública Heroin Dependence Social Stigma Violence Qualitative Analysis |
| title | Experiences and perceptions of people who use heroin: public health lessons from Hermosillo, Mexico |
| title_full | Experiences and perceptions of people who use heroin: public health lessons from Hermosillo, Mexico |
| title_fullStr | Experiences and perceptions of people who use heroin: public health lessons from Hermosillo, Mexico |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experiences and perceptions of people who use heroin: public health lessons from Hermosillo, Mexico |
| title_short | Experiences and perceptions of people who use heroin: public health lessons from Hermosillo, Mexico |
| title_sort | experiences and perceptions of people who use heroin public health lessons from hermosillo mexico |
| topic | Heroin Dependence Social Stigma Violence Qualitative Analysis |
| url | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-311X2018001105008&lng=en&tlng=en |
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