Development of an information reporting system on illicit drug use in Mexico

In Mexico, drug abuse is considered a public health problem that is growing rapidly, especially among minors, who constitute about one half of the total population of the country. To facilitate an estimation of the drug problem and its trends in the country, the Information Reporting System on Drugs (IRSD) was established in 1986 by the Mexican Institute of Psychiatry at the request of the National Council against Addictions. IRSD is an "event-reporting" type of information system based on two month-long cross-sectional evaluations that are made each year in June and November. Data for IRSD are gathered via a questionnaire called the individual report on drug abuse, which is completed by illicit drug users upon admission to health and criminal justice facilities and institutions at Mexico City during the evaluation periods. This article describes the objectives of IRSD, its development and its functioning, as well as some of its findings.