Applicant · proposal in preparation · intake August 2027
A critical cartography of drug policy in Mexico: from institutional blindness to community evidence in social health protection
PhD in Social Scientific Studies (DECS) · ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara
Research line: social protection, with bridges to rule of law and social transformation, and to social care.
The punitive drug control regime produced a biopolitical and institutional failure that excludes people who use drugs from health protection, substituting criminal coercion for medical care.
The project names two mechanisms. Chemical blindness: the state has no real-time toxicological screening infrastructure, so it classifies complex poisonings under residual codes and misses adulteration with fentanyl, methamphetamine or xylazine. Concealment for survival: vulnerable populations, especially women and gender-dissident people, avoid official services for fear of police extortion, prosecution, or losing custody of their children.
Methodologically it triangulates official data (CONASAMA, 2011–2024) with the territorial chemical evidence produced by harm reduction collectives — Barbies Testeadoras del Bajío, Instituto RIA, Verter A.C. — to audit health regulation and ground a model of collaborative governance.
Research question. How can integrating community evidence and territorial chemical analysis produced by harm reduction networks correct the institutional blindness of official metrics, and ground a model of social health protection based on collaborative governance and human rights in Mexico?