New Mexico Mercury

The Root Cause of Northern New Mexico’s Drug and Alcohol Problems

A quick perusal of the NM Department of Health Substance Abuse Epidemiological Profile for New Mexico, 2013 shows that NM:

-Has an alcohol-related death rate that’s 1.9 times higher than the national average

-Has the highest drug-overdose rate in the entire country

-Has a suicide rate that’s 2 times the national average

Without any doubt, Northern New Mexico owns the worst reputation for drug-related issues, as Rio Arriba County owns the state’s highest drug related death rate.  The data shows that we, as a community, MUST do something to try and get our drug usage and death rates lowered.  But what do we do?...

Harmful pesticides not needed around the house

We are using way too much pesticides in our society, in our homes, in our schools, in public buildings and even in our forests. I have covered the many problems pesticides cause many times in my columns. We have to have a system where we use safe and effective methods for pest control. Some companies do this and I recommend them in some instances. Many companies prefer to spray pesticides because it is easier and you really don't have to know what you are doing. Just spray and pray – spray pesticides and pray you kill something...

The Miracle of Alfredo

It’s a miracle, says Pastor Galván as we talk about the sudden recovery of Alfredo Ortiz, one of the mental patients in his asylum in Juárez. The problem is that I don’t believe in miracles. So how did this man recover from three months of being catatonic?

Alfredo was born in Juárez on June 9, 1977, appears to be a humble young man and is a skillful worker. In April 2012, his family committed him to Vision in Action, this private mental asylum founded by Pastor Galván...

Immigrant Women Rise Against Domestic Violence

Off a busy Albuquerque boulevard, one of the city’s most vital services goes on quietly with its work.  Now 13 years old, Enlace Comunitario, or Community Link, works non-stop to prevent and resolve domestic violence among the Duke City’s large, Spanish-speaking immigrant population.

Beginning with a handful of visionary founders, Enlace Comunitario now employs a fulltime staff of 31 and many volunteers who educate the community about the varied manifestations of domestic violence, as well as channels assistance and resources to victims...

The Corporate Sleight of Hand and the ACA

According to the illusionist team Penn and Teller, one of the main principles in sleight-of-hand stage magic is "misdirection," whereas an audience's attention is lead "away from a secret move.”  The distraction is necessary to make an audience believe something is happening when in fact it is not.  On the current American political and economic stage we have a myriad of hucksters selling us a collective diversion from systemic inequalities and institutional injustices to the ‘reality TV’ baseness of political parody...

Insight New Mexico - Pat Davis

V.B. Price talks with Pat Davis, Executive Director of ProgressNow New Mexico, about the upcoming vote on the Albuquerque abortion ordinance.

Health Reform In The Cross Fire

As the Federal Exchange continues to frustrate all of us, we are also seeing other aspects of the ACA surface and become the fodder of attacks and misinformation.  While some benefits started early in 2010, other, more complex changes specifically related to the infrastructure of insurance reform start now that is causing further angst.  But then, as we see, it’s easy to blame everything on the ACA...

Nurses and Teachers

We cannot live without them, yet our current society treats them as if their work were not what it is - a noble calling.

Hidden Treasures

“Some people say that they are “basura humana” or human garbage but I feel that they are “tesoros escondidos” or hidden treasures, Pastor José Antonio Galván says of the one hundred mental patients in his asylum in the desert on the west of Juárez, Mexico.It’s been almost three years since my first visit with him, this imposing, quick witted, relentlessly optimistic man who has saved the lives of so many of Mexico’s mentally ill...

Native Healing: A community-based approach

UNM professor Jessica Goodkind believes that community-based projects within Native American communities will help prevent mental health and substance abuse problems among Native American youth populations.