DRUG ABUSE, MIGRATION, COUPLES, PARENTHOOD, FAMILY

1. XV REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON MIGRATIONREGIONAL SEMINAR ON MIGRATION AND FAMILYCOLEGIO DE LA FRONTERA NORTEAPRIL 2010 DRUG ABUSE, MIGRATION, COUPLES, PARENTHOOD, FAMILY Dr. Ricardo Sánchez Huesca Centros de Integración Juvenil A.C.

2. Man-Husband-Father

3. “To see if I could help my children get ahead” … painfully, he says [as told by the wife]… ”I’m leaving, children, you see that I have no job, and I have this chance…” Pérez, I.V., Díaz, N. B., Arellánez, H. JL. Impacto de la emigración del padre en la conyugalidad y parentalidad en familias de jóvenes usuarios de drogas. CIJ Internal Paper, 2004.

4. …money was also a big part of the reason, in a way, but we also had many personal problems… so it was like an excuse, and yes, then he quickly left to work and he sent us money and everything… so at least we were better off financially because we did not have so many problems” Pérez I.V., Díaz N. B., Arellánez H. JL. I mpacto de la emigración del padre en la conyugalidad y parentalidad en familias de jóvenes usuarios de drogas. CIJ Internal Document, 2004.

5. Woman-Wife-Mother

6. "…when I was leaving, I saw that she [meaning her mother] kept looking at me… She couldn’t stop me because she was an elderly person, she was not strong, sometimes she threatened me: ‘If you go away I will leave your children on the street, I will take them to the DIF’. She said things to stop me, and I didn’t reply, I ignored her, I went on my way and left…” “I thought: ‘She loves my children very much, she wouldn’t have the heart’…” Sánchez-Huesca, R., Pérez, I.V., Rodríguez, K.S., Arellánez, H.J., Ortiz, E. RM. El consumo de drogas en migrantes desde una perspectiva de género. Un estudio exploratorio. Región y Sociedad, Vol. XVIII, No. 35, 2006.

7. “…. Uhm… I do know a woman, but don’t tell her I gave you the address because she doesn’t want it to be known… People around here say that when a woman leaves, who knows what she would do over there” Arellánez, H. JL., Sánchez-Huesca, R. Migración femenina a Estados Unidos y consumo de drogas. Revista Digital Universitaria. UNAM. Volume 9, No. 8, 2008.

8. Returning Female Migrants n=1,779 Characteristics of Drug Users Use of an Illegal Drug: 2% Age: 19 years (mode) Education: 29% finished high school, 29% are professionals Area of Residence: 66% urban, 34% rural Occupation during Migration: 37% worked, 29% studied, 23% stayed at home ENA 2008. Women 12-65 years of age: 1.9% Use of Illegal Drugs Before and During Migration Sánchez-Huesca, R., Santamaría, A., Arellánez, H. JL. Consumo de drogas en mujeres migrantes en retorno del estado de Michoacán. To be published.

9. The Couple as Parents and the Extended Family

10. “Here [meaning Michoacán], when a son leaves he sends the money to his mother, and the mother gives some money to the wife and tells the son how his wife is behaving” Sánchez-Huesca, R., Santamaría, A., Arellánez, H. JL. Consumo de drogas en mujeres migrantes en retorno del estado de Michoacán. To be published.

11. Drug Abuse among “Those Who Stay”

12. …because it’s a fact that people need a father, and they need him to be at home and to be with them. Because, more than anything, I see my friends who are with their fathers and… the family environment seems to be more relaxed, I mean, there is not so much pressure, not so much scolding… I started using everything [meaning drugs]. I didn’t have a father anymore… you lose, so to say, completely, everything… Pérez, I.V., Díaz, N. B., Arellánez, H. JL. Impacto de la emigración del padre en la conyugalidad y parentalidad en familias de jóvenes usuarios de drogas. CIJ Internal Paper, 2004 Sánchez-Huesca, R., Arellánez, H. JL., Ramón, T. E., Ortiz, E. RM. Consumo de drogas en niños y adolescentes migrantes a Estados Unidos. In: Achicando futuros: actores y lugares de la migración/Gloria Ciria Valdéz, Coordinator. El Colegio de Sonora, 2008.

13. Drug Abuse among “Those Who Leave”

14. “They offered me cocaine one day, we had to finish a job and we had to stay until six in the morning, and it was three or four in the morning […], and since we were already tired – we had been working hard all day long – I said: ‘You know? I will stop working, I will leave now!’ ‘No, wait! I will give you something that will make it easier, that will help you go on working! I will give you cocaine!’ [meaning a coworker] And I said: ‘Okay!’” Sánchez-Huesca, R., Pérez I.V., Rodríguez, K.S., Arellánez, H.J., Ortiz, E. RM. El consumo de drogas en migrantes desde una perspectiva de género. Un estudio exploratorio. Región y Sociedad, Vol. XVIII, No. 35, 2006.

15. Returning Adult Migrants n=567 Characteristics of Drug Users Use of an Illegal Drug: 28% Gender: 96% male and 4% female Age: 30 years (average) ENA 2008 Populations 18-34 years of age Men 11.8% Women 2.8% Use of Illegal Drugs Before and During Migration % % Started in Mexico Started in the US Sánchez-Huesca, R., Arellánez, H. JL., Córdova, A., Rodríguez S., Pérez V., Ramón, E. Prevalencia del uso de drogas en migrantes captados en ciudades de la frontera noroccidental.

16. Returned Adolescents n= 183 Characteristics of Drug Users Use of an Illegal Drug: 21% male 4% female Occupation during Migration: 42% worked (79% male, 21% female) ENA, 2008: 12-17 years Male 3.5% Female 1.6% Use of Illegal Drugs Before and During Migration Started in Mexico Started in the US % % Sánchez-Huesca, R., Arellánez, H. JL. Adolescentes migrantes repatriados. Análisis de factores psicosociales de la migración y consumo de drogas con perspectiva de género. SNDIF-CIJ, 2009.

17. “...you don’t need to report back to anybody, you are yourself, you are simply free… So over there you can do what you want…” “… over there in the US, after work, hell, my buddy offers me a joint of weed and, well, I tried it, and all of us got totally stoned…” Sánchez-Huesca, R., Arellánez, H. JL., Cielo, M. B., Ramón, T. E.: Consumo de drogas en adolescentes migrantes a la frontera norte y estados unidos captados en la frontera noroccidental. SNDIF-CIJ, 2008.

18. Conclusions and Suggestions