Is Drug Related Violence in Mexico a Media Hype?

News headlines about drug related violence in Mexico are a common trend on the mainstream media, usurped only by major disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes around the world and illegal nuclear testing and terrorism. However illicit, destructive, or sinful the drug trade might be, we have to remember that it is a business, and that the demand for narcotics from thriving markets in richer countries like the United States and Europe show no signs of waning. The insatiable thirst and hard-to-understand longing for such drugs cannot be easily resolved, and while there is a demand, some parts of Mexico pay the price.

Is drug related violence in Mexico a media hype?

If you depend entirely on mainstream media to form your opinions, you might have a very fearful opinion of Mexico. As you watch the media report deaths and violence, you would be forgiven for thinking that Mexico is a war zone where people are (or should be) afraid to go out at night. The truth of the matter is somewhat different. The fact is that the majority of Mexico’s cities and towns across the country are peaceful, non-violent and quiet, experiencing very little drug related violence.

Tourists and drug related violence in Mexico

Incidences of tourists and visitors getting involved in drug violence in the Mexico is minimal. With an ever growing number of expats choosing to live in Mexico, you have to ask yourself why would they put themselves at such risk if all you see on the television were true! Perhaps the honest answer is that the media reports are not lies or fake news but misleading in that they tarnish the whole country with the same brush. For example, in many towns—and more so in the popular tourist areas—the risks of violence, whether that be drug related or otherwise, is comparably lower than the risks most people in the USA and Canada will find in their own home cities.

What the stats say about drug related violence in Mexico

Statistical findings reveal that Mexico overall has lower crime rates than many states in the USA. In locations such as Puerto Vallarta, Loreto, Cancun, Los Cabos and Riviera Nayarit, you will find that crime and homicide rates are lower than most big cities in the United States.

Remember not to judge the whole of Mexico by what you see reported on the television about cities near the US borders such as Ciudad Juarez, Culiacan and Tijuana or the state of Veracruz. With a little research, you will see that vacations in Mexico’s top destinations are just as safe as staying at home.