A boy who said he was "12 years old -- no, 14 years old," inhales plastic pipe-cleaning solvent from a wad of toilet paper soaked in the chemical as another young street addict has his head shaved at the curbside hangout in Mexico City.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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Near a small statue of ÒSanto MuerteÓ -- Saint Death -- a girl who says she's 17 breathes fumes from a solvent. Dozens of young people at the encampment begged motorists for food and money.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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A young man sleeps at the base of a neglected monument to 19th century Latin American hero Simon Bolivar in Mexico City. Dozens of young men and women have turned the monument into a squatter's camp where they buy, sell and inhale chemical solvent to stay high.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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Marijuana and crack cocaine are the drug of choice among Mexico's youth, but the poor sometimes turn to highly toxic solvents like paint thinner. One user said that type of drug "makes you see things and hear voices.Ó
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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A young man lies nearly unconscious in downtown Mexico City, clutching a can of plastic pipe-cleaning solvent.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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Youths openly smoke marijuana in a park on Paseo de la Reforma in the heart of Mexico City. "It's legal here and only costs $2.50," one of the teens said.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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Jose Andres Mendoza, a.k.a. Tulo, 15, watches another teen smoking marijuana as he cruises through Mexico City. "WeÕd pistol-whip the guys on buses to get their money. I like money. I like the clothes. I like having good tennis shoes. The name brands," Tulo said of his criminal past.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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Reformed teenage drug dealers play guitars in a Mexico City halfway house. Its director, Miguel Barrera says "These kids are victimizers, but they are also victims.Ó The virtually endless supply of young foot soldiers keeps Mexico's drug cartels well-stocked with thugs, gunmen, mules, peddlers and lookouts, undermining the governmentÕs drug war. As vulnerable youth fall through the cracks, Mexico risks losing part of a generation.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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Jose Andres Mendoza, 15, clutches his most treasured possession, a statue of St. Jude Thaddeus, the saint of desperate causes. It was given to him by a girlfriend two weeks before she was shot dead at a party in November. With the help of his parents, drug counselors and mentors, he's trying to abandon his history of robbery, drug use and addiction.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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Youths hang out in a northeast Mexico City neighborhood where you can buy drugs Òlike a stick of gum,Ó dealers with shaved heads fight for corners, and gunfire punctuates the night.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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