Narcoculture is a subculture that has developed in response to the strong presence of drug cartels throughout countries such as Mexico. Similar to other crime- and drug-related subcultures worldwide, such as the Scottish neds, European hooligans, American street-gang members, cholos, and outlaw bikers. Like them, narcoculture has evolved distinctive forms of dress, music, literature, film, religious beliefs and practices, and slang. These elements have contributed to its integration into mainstream culture in some regions, particularly among lower-income and less formally educated youth. Narcoculture is not uniform, but dynamic, with significant regional differences within Mexico and among those who engage with it.
Origin
Narcoculture, like drug trafficking, had relatively modest beginnings in Mexico. Narcoculture is generally traced to drug-trafficking practices in the highlands of Badiraguato, Sinaloa. It was in the Sierra Madre Occidental, or rural highlands, that a distinct drug-trafficking identity emerged, before being consolidated as it expanded into urban areas. Narcoculture has been described as a code of conduct and a lifestyle associated with participation in the "narco world." Several scholars, including Luis Alejandro Astorga Almanza and Jorge Alan Sánchez Godoy, argue that there is no evidence that cannabis or opium was consumed in Mexico prior to the arrival of the Spanish and the Chinese immigrants. Although indigenous communities in Mexico used hallucinogenic mushrooms and peyote for religious purposes, cannabis was introduced following Spanish colonisation. Astorga argues that drug trafficking in Mexico originated in connection with Chinese immigration to Sinaloa, where Chinese immigrants are said to have brought poppy seeds when they arrived to work on railroads and in mines. Sánchez Godoy further argues that after cannabis was introduced to Mexico, it was initially used for medicinal purposes, while poppy plants were used ornamentally and served as inspiration for several Mexican corridos, or ballads.
Narco production in Mexico
The US effectively banned all psychoactive drugs when the federal government passed the Harrison Act in 1914, prohibiting all non-medicinal use of opium, morphine, and cocaine. In 1919, the National Prohibition Act made alcoholic beverages illegal (though this was later voided by the Twenty-first Amendment, ratified in 1933), and the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 outlawed marijuana. Mexico's proximity to the US made it an easy black-market source of these drugs, and American bootleggers and traffickers rushed to obtain illicit narcotics and alcohol. Exports of illicit Mexican opium, heroin, and marijuana for US consumption steadily increased as a result of Prohibition. The black market grew quickly, with millions of Americans creating a sudden demand for a huge supply of alcohol, heroin, marijuana and cocaine. The initial shortage caused a boost in drug prices, and these new "super-profits" attracted black-market suppliers to fill the vacuum.
Expulsion of Chinese producers During the early 1920s, the Chinese in Sinaloa were victims of segregation, hate crimes, and forceful deportation. In 1927, to cooperate with its northern neighbour, Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles, by federal mandate, ordered the expulsion of the Chinese poppy producers.
US morphine demand Once Chinese poppy producers were expelled from Sinaloa, the production of narcotics became controlled by rural Mexican farmers. The narcotics production in Mexico was still small, but the demand for morphine in the United States, created by the disruption in its morphine supply from Europe during the World Wars, led to the temporary legalization of narcotics in Mexico.
Mexican production and the birth of narcoculture Scholars like Jorge Alan Sánchez Godoy and Luis Alejandro Astorga Almanza argue that narcotics were temporarily legalized in Sinaloa in order to supply the United States' demand during the World Wars. The period when the production of narcotics was temporarily legalized ultimately shaped and created the drug trafficking identity in the region. This is when narcoculture first began to appear. It is also the period when Mexico began large-scale production of narcotics.
Rise of Mexican drug cartels and consolidation of narcoculture The 1950s in Mexico were marked by the term narcotráfico ("drug traffic"), which began to appear throughout the media. During the 1940s through the 1970s, drug trafficking in Mexico was considered to be a small family business with a relatively simple organization and division of labor. It was not until after the 1970s, with the growth of demand from the United States and alliances with Colombian drug traffickers, that cartels in Mexico were formed to control the production and distribution of narcotics. At this point, Mexico became both a major producer and distributor of illicit drugs, especially narcotics. Alliances between Mexican and Colombian drug cartels allowed Mexico to serve as a route of entrance for cocaine arriving in the United States from Colombia, becoming a major distributor. Mexico had been a major producer since Prohibition in the United States, when Mexico supplied the United States with heroin, morphine, opium, alcohol, and cannabis. As drug trafficking expanded in Mexico, so did narcoculture. Narcoculture expanded into the urban sector of society and began the process of legitimization, moving away from a subculture into a part of the dominant culture.
Coining the term narcoculture The term "narcoculture" was first coined in the 1970s. Narcoculture describes the way of life and ideas of drug traffickers. Its existence depends on drug traffickers and drug trafficking, maintaining a transnational network of production, transportation, and commercialization of illegal drugs. Drug trafficking has political, economic, ideological, and cultural implications. Drug traffickers interact with the rest of society, and as this daily interaction progresses, some of the drug traffickers' mannerisms are adopted by society, leading to cultural change and legitimization. That is, the drug traffickers' way of life, narcoculture, becomes legitimate in society. Some aspects are adopted by those outside drug trafficking, and over time, people forget that what they have adopted is narcoculture. Narcoculture begins a process of legitimization when it begins to include the popular classes in urban cities.
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