Rather than via furtive back-alley transactions, this drug is swapped, rather unsurreptitiously, among coworkers at the office over the water cooler, community coffeepot, or cubicle walls. You’ll witness exchanges of this drug between acquaintances on the street, or among adults at the birthday party of your child’s best friend. If you unwittingly utter the password*, you may find yourself a reluctant recipient of a sample from your son-in-law, boss, or clerk at the checkout counter of your favorite grocery or hardware store.
The drug is frequently discussed in the travel section, or sometimes on the front page, of your newspaper, and on Facebook, Twitter, and among friends via email. On the daytime and evening news, bright-eyed anchormen with their phony smiles, sculptured hairdos and voices of concern are some of the drug’s biggest promoters.
And unlike other drugs grown and/or produced in Mexico, then funneled to the U.S. for distribution and sale, this one has its root origins in Mexico border towns but is refined and enhanced in the United States. Consumers and distributers of this drug are primarily Americans living in states bordering Mexico---California, Arizona, and Texas. The drug has been around for years but is more widely available now that Americans want a quick fix to forget about the worsening U.S. economy and their personal financial problems.
Consumers of traditional U.S. drugs have made a small number of Mexicans very wealthy, while the U.S. spends millions to keep those drugs out of the country. In contrast, the distribution of this new drug has resulted in fat pockets for U.S. corporations while bankrupting many areas of Mexico, forcing businesses to close and families to seek out local donation centers for food and clothing.
Finally, the new drug is not illegal. And it’s free.
The more seasoned and savvy readers of this blog have probably guessed it by now. The new drug is FEAR. Fear of Mexico. Unrelenting, unwarranted fear of travel by Americans to Mexico, despite statistics that crime rates in Mexican border towns are similar to most large U.S. cities, and very low elsewhere in the country.
“Are you crazy?!?” coworkers will ask when you tell them you’re going to visit friends south of the border. “Don’t you know about all the violence down there?” One colleague, a former frequent traveler to Mexico, warned me, "Watch your head!"
As the grocery store clerk rings up the items in your two full grocery carts, you explain you're spending two months at your home in Mexico. “Haven’t you heard about all the killings and kidnappings down there?” she shrieks. You watch the evening news and hear about the latest violence in Mexico border towns, but nothing about the family killed a couple miles from your U.S. home (you later learn about it at the local pet store), or about the number of rapes and violent muggings in even affluent areas of Los Angeles, San Diego, Houston, or New Orleans.
American corporations, owners of U.S. news stations and newspapers, are benefitting hugely from this drug, since would-be travelers to Mexico stay home and spend their vacation money in the U.S. And quaint Mexican tourist towns that depend on U.S. tourism are suffering.
Why call it a drug, you ask? Its users become frantic if you try reason with them about its use, using reliable statistics or personal experience. "If you're not a drug lord or hanging around downtown areas of border towns at night, chances are very slim you'll ever be a victim," you'll say. They'll look at you wide-eyed and reply, "What do YOU know?" or "That's not what I heard!" and trounce off, obviously fear-intoxicated once again.
Of course there’s the occasional tragedy to Mexico vacationers, since travelers to any destination take risks. As I’ve written in previous blogs, it’s curious that my Baja friends travel to and from lots of Mexico cities, and none of them, or their relatives and friends who often visit, have ever reported such stories.
The only story I’ve heard first-hand is about the corrupt cop in Mexicali who tries to extort about $150 for a bogus traffic violation, but we’re all onto him now. I took a 2-week trip down the Baja peninsula to Cabo San Lucas and back and never had a problem. On the contrary, a friend in my Baja book club was assaulted and robbed in Beverly Hills, and police sirens are a daily occurrence near my Mom’s apartment building in a relatively quiet community northwest of Los Angeles.
So when I’m in in the L.A. area, away from my Mexico home, and a friend, coworker, or retail store clerk obviously addicted to this new drug questions my travel plans to Mexico, I ask, “Do you ever go to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion? Mark Taper Forum? Walt Disney Concert Hall? L.A. Garment District? L.A. Zoo?”
As you can imagine, the response to at least one of these is “Yes!”
“Are you crazy?” I ask in alarm. “Do you realize there’s an average of 100 violent crimes PER DAY** in Los Angeles? Aren’t you afraid? How long before you’re an innocent victim?”
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* "Mexico" is the password
** see my previous blog for the reference
