Cartels respond to troubling shift in consumer demographics

A SANDAG report released today indicated that 53 percent of women booked into San Diego County jails tested positive for methamphetamine, while only 40 percent of their male counterparts tested positive for the drug. That's bad news for the Sinaloa cartel, which controls much of the meth trade in San Diego following its WalMart style takeover of the region from the mom-and-pop meth labs of East County. Because while women have historically had no problem using drugs favored by men, the reverse has not always been the case. As Cartel spokesman Alejandro Pusher puts it, "We don't want meth to end up the Chardonnay of the drug world."

"The Breaking Bad years were good for us," continues Pusher. "[On that hit AMC show,] meth, or at least the making of it, transformed mousy, miserable chemistry teacher Walter White into a totally boss and badass outlaw, and customers noticed it. Sure, he died at the end — spoiler alert! — but he went out on his own terms, having built a legacy, and knowing that his loved ones would be well taken care of. How many men can say the same? Admittedly, probably very few among the many, many men who bought meth from us during those days. But the drug helped them not to care so much, and Walter White helped them feel like they were attached, however remotely, to something kind of cool and even admirable.

But after the series ended [in 2013], sales among men began to tail off. Between medical marijuana, craft heroin, and the nostalgic '80s allure of cocaine, we lost more market share than I'm comfortable discussing. The figures released today prove that. But they do more than that as well: they help create the impression that meth is a ladies' drug, like Valium. And until women have the same earning power as men, that's an association we simply cannot afford. Hence, the new campaign. Nothing clever, nothing cute. Just a straight up challenge: everybody knows meth is dangerous. We're asking men if they have the stones to take that risk and dance with the devil."