Rampant Smoking in Mexico: A Firsthand and Statistical Look

A question that came to my mind after I had been living for two years in Mexico was, "Is there a uniformity of cultural, social, and linguistic practices that would qualify Mexico as a kind of anthropological homozygosity?" In other words, is Mexico and what you see of the country in one region going to necessarily be the same no matter where you go? To test this, the wife and I did extensive traveling throughout central and western Mexico. There were certain things for which we looked in the locales we visited. After spending so much time watching and recording our observations in Guanajuato, we had a list of things we looked for in the cities we explored.

One major issue was that of air pollution. Guanajuato seems to have relatively clean air compared to the air of Leon, Irapuato, Saltillo, and Mexico City. You generally will not see that thick orange to brown haze you can end up breathing at street level in these other cities. I fear, though, that with the proliferation of so many cars that Guanajuato might be heading in the direction of these other cities.

Another kind of pollution also caught our attention in Guanajuato: cigarettes!

I realize this is just a subjective thing, but if almost five years of observing the streets, the restaurants and the shopping areas of Guanajuato mean anything, it would appear that the majority of Guanajuatenses smoke. You can't walk down a street without being forced to walk through vast clouds of blue, billowing smoke. The same goes in almost all the restaurants and stores. And, the surprise is that the non-smoking tourists seem to keep coming. It would be interesting to be able to survey this part of the tourist population to get its view on the smoking issue both in Guanajuato and in Mexico in general.

Another thing you can easily take note of is the small snack kiosks in the main plazas. These offer not only snacks and newspapers but they will sell anyone, child or not, cigarettes either by the pack or individually. Sitting and watching in the plazas yields a steady visual stream of what most certainly has to be underage kids buying cigarettes and lighting up. I suspect the same is true in stores, even those that hang signs attesting to the Mexican law that selling cigarettes to underage kids is illegal. One store I do know of routinely refuses to sell to kids and for that I commend both the owner as well as her fine husband.

Trying to find facts and stats on the smoking issue has been difficult but finally, when I wasn't looking for them, they popped up.

That subjective observing of mine is now not so subjective: It is estimated by The National Statistics Institute that about half of the adults in Mexico's 104 million people smoke or have smoked in the past. It is such a problem in this country that finally, in the fall of 2007, Mexican lawmakers approved a ban on smoking in public places with the hopeful view of ending the preponderance of smokers in Mexico. But, as is true of so many laws in this nation, the will to enforce it is not there.

Latino teenagers in the States as well as in Mexico may have an even higher incidence of smoking than other adolescent groups in other countries. Just sitting in the plazas and hanging out at certain stores certainly can verify that. And, the reason for this is remarkably due to parental encouragement to smoke.

In a study done and reported in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 1994, Vol. 1, No. 2, Pages 122-136, in Tijuana, Mexico, parents actually were the main factors in teenagers beginning their addiction.

About 760 students from the grades 3-9 were randomly selected from a random choice of schools. The shocking results found that the most frequent encouragement or inducement to smoke was attributed to Mexican parents having the child purchase the tobacco products. A whopping 60% of the parents had the child light the cigarette for them. Having their third graders do this was relatively infrequent but increased by the time the child reached the fifth grade.

In 2005, The Mexican Youth Institute surveyed 12,000 young people on a variety of social issues. This study found that 18% smoked by the age 16. Of those within the surveyed age group (12-29), 46% of them smoke 2-5 cigarettes a day. More males smoke than females. Amazingly, most of those surveyed think it is something that calms their nerves and makes them look sexy.

I have no clue why so many people smoke in Guanajuato and why so many of them are teenagers. If their parents are the main reason behind it, as in the Tijuana survey, I simply do not know.

It makes you wonder.

Sources:

International Journal of Behavioral Medicine 1994, Vol. 1, No. 2, Pages 122-136

The Mexican Youth Institute

The National Statistics Institute