2022年经济学人 墨西哥政府边称要戒毒边称“大麻合法化”(1)

The Americas

美洲板块

Mexico

墨西哥

Mired¹ in meth

深陷冰毒

Illegal drug consumption is increasing

非法毒品消费正在增加

In reto a la juventud, a live-in treatment centre in Ciudad Juarez, in northern Mexico, Jenny Chavez describes how her addiction² to drugs led to her losing her job as a maid, her house and her family.

在墨西哥北部华雷斯的一家寄宿治疗中心尤文图德中，珍妮·查韦斯描述了她的毒瘾如何导致她失去了女佣的工作、房子和她的家人。

The 39-year-old mother of five started taking cocaine³ ten years ago, but it was after she moved onto methamphetamine, or meth, a potent⁴ stimulant⁵, that things began to unravel⁶.

这位39岁的，有五个孩子的母亲十年前开始吸食可卡因，但直到她开始吸食甲基苯丙胺(又称冰毒，一种强效兴奋剂)后，事情才开始恶化。

“It’s hard because everyone takes it around here,” she explains.

她解释说：“这很难，因为这里的每个人都吸毒。”

Mexico is home to hundreds of gangs shipping⁷ illegal drugs north.

墨西哥是数百个向北运送非法毒品团伙的大本营。

Domestic use of such substances, however, has historically been low.

不过毒品在墨西哥国内的使用量历来很低。

That is changing.

这种情况正在改变。

Mexico's most recent national survey, from 2016, shows that 10% of people reported having tried an illegal substance in their lives, up from 7% in 2011.

墨西哥2016年最新的全国性调查显示，10%的人报告曾在生活中尝试过非法毒品，高于2011年的7%。

Synthetic⁸ drugs in particular have become more common over the past five years.

特别是合成毒品在过去五年中变得更加普遍。

In 2021 36% of users at a government network of treatment centres sought help for addiction to meth, compared with 15% in 2016.

2021年，政府治疗中心网络中，36%的毒品使用者因冰毒成瘾而寻求帮助，而2016年这一比例为15%。

Consumption of meth is doing “terrible damage” to the country, says Javier Gonzalez, who heads the addiction agency for the state of Chihuahua, home to Ciudad Juarez.

华雷斯所在的奇瓦瓦州戒毒机构负责人哈维尔·冈萨雷斯说，吸食冰毒正在对这个国家造成“可怕的破坏”。

That city is particularly badly affected⁹ because of its location on the border.

由于地处边境，该市受到的影响尤其严重。

But the problem is national.

但问题是全国性的。

According to data from the network of treatment centres, meth overtook marijuana in 2020 as the drug that most people sought help with.

根据治疗中心网络的数据，在2020年冰毒成瘾人数超过大麻，更多因冰毒来寻求帮助。

The demography¹⁰ of drug users is changing, too.

吸毒者的人口结构也在发生变化。

More women are taking drugs, while youngsters are having their first experience at an earlier age.

越来越多的女性正在吸毒，而青少年的第一次吸毒年龄也越来越早。

During the pandemic consumption of illegal drugs rose among 15-24 year olds.

在疫情期间，15-24岁青少年的非法毒品消费量上升。

Analysts¹¹ trace the increase in drug use to a decision around a decade ago by the Sinaloa gang, which is Mexico's main producer of synthetic drugs, to sell their wares¹² at home as well as to traffic them.

分析人士认为，毒品使用量的增加源于大约十年前，墨西哥合成毒品的主要生产商锡那罗亚帮派决定在国内销售他们的产品，并进行走私。

It works as a recruitment tool.

它起到了增长工具的作用。

1 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

3 cocaine   

n.可卡因，古柯碱（用作局部麻醉剂）

参考例句：

• That young man is a cocaine addict.那个年轻人吸食可卡因成瘾。
• Don't have cocaine abusively.不可滥服古柯碱。

4 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

5 stimulant   

n.刺激物，兴奋剂

参考例句：

• It is used in medicine for its stimulant quality.由于它有兴奋剂的特性而被应用于医学。
• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。

6 unravel   

v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开

参考例句：

• He was good with his hands and could unravel a knot or untangle yarn that others wouldn't even attempt.他的手很灵巧，其他人甚至都不敢尝试的一些难解的绳结或缠在一起的纱线，他都能解开。
• This is the attitude that led him to unravel a mystery that long puzzled Chinese historians.正是这种态度使他解决了长期以来使中国历史学家们大惑不解的谜。

7 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

8 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 demography   

n.人口统计，人口学

参考例句：

• Demography is the analysis of population variables.人口学是对人口变量的分析。
• It was once a rule of demography that people have fewer children as their countries get richer.按人口统计学的一贯规律，一个国家里的人民越富有，他们所拥有的孩子就越少。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 wares   

n. 货物, 商品

参考例句：

• They sold their wares at half-price. 他们的货品是半价出售的。
• The peddler was crying up his wares. 小贩极力夸耀自己的货物。