The lights of Ciudad Juarez can be seen from the UTEP campus. (Danya Hernandez/Borderzine.com)

Study examines how student writing reflects Mexican drug-war violence

EL PASO – As the drug war continues in Ciudad Juárez, one of the world’s deadliest cities just cross the border from the University of Texas at El Paso, the work of international students here has shown the effect drug-related violence has had on their everyday lives. “In the past few years, violence and conflict have become a constant threat to the lives of many students on the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Alfredo Urzua, assistant professor of languages and linguistics at UTEP. “These students that are directly or indirectly exposed to violent events must find a way to balance their educational goals while living in an unstable and unsafe environment.”

Many of the students at the university come from or have close ties to Juarez. The impact the drug violence has had on the university can be seen since the start of the war. UTEP students have protested against the violence and helped families that have been affected.

(Diana Carrillo/Borderzine.com)

The rave is all about music, but some seek Ecstacy to enhance the dance

EL PASO – The dancing crowd rides a wave of lights surging to electronic rhythms while neon colors waft the wall and the crowd becomes one with the massive electro-beats as the wave becomes tsunami, flooding the hall up to eight hours at a time. The ecstasy that drives hours of nonstop dancing, typical at music festivals and raves, is sometimes fed by Ecstasy – the illicit drug. “I wouldn’t have lasted dancing, or even standing for the whole seven hours that I was there. I rolled for seven hours straight,” said Robert, 21. For many years, people have combined the music scene with drug use to increase the energy and enhance euphoria.

Young Users Find Ecstasy in a Cheap Abundant Pill

EL PASO, Texas – Electro-beats fill the arena, green laser lights project out to the dancing multitude and somewhere in that crowd many will be consuming ecstasy, including 19 year-old Randy. “The first time I ever took ecstasy was when I went to a rave a few months ago and my friends gave me this really small pill. I took it and everything changed,” Randy said. “I just felt happy and everything sounded and looked even better than before.”

El Paso has seen an almost 2 percent increase of ecstasy seizures from 2008 to November 2009 according to Diana Apodaca, Drug Enforcement Administration special agent. “At first we thought it had to do with the violence in Mexico, but then we realized it had nothing to do with it,” Apodaca said.

Take two and call me in the morning: Prescription drug abuse in America is on the rise

Hydrocodone or dihydrocodeinone, a semi-synthetic opiate derived from naturally-occurring codeine and thebaine, is usually administered as an analgesic for patients recovering from painful injuries and after surgery. Lately though, along with other pain relievers and tranquilizers such as Xanax and Oxycontin, Hydrocodone, or Vicodin has taken center stage as the new vogue-drug among teenagers, college students and professional adults, according to a recent Texas report on prescription drug abuse.