Thread: Books warn immigrants of dangers of meth trade

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/16088639.htm

Posted on Fri, Nov. 24, 2006email thisprint thisBooks warn immigrants of dangers of meth tradeBy GARANCE BURKE
the associated press
MERCED, Calif. - Fotonovelas -- pocket-size picture books popular in Mexico -- have gotten a California makeover that authorities hope persuades immigrant laborers to resist the easy-money temptation of the methamphetamine trade.

Thousands in the meth-plagued Central Valley have read the bilingual graphic-novel story of Jose, a farmworker who creates tragedy for his family by working for a drug ring. No Vale La Pena, or It's Not Worth It, has inspired a Spanish-language docudrama, and police from Tennessee to Colorado have requested copies.

In Mexico, fotonovelas often illustrate life's struggles through recurring characters, like the trucker with a heart of gold or the secretary trying to get ahead. Community leaders in and around Merced, about 130 miles southeast of San Francisco, saw them as an effective way to reach immigrant workers.

"We were trying to get that message across to a population that has a very low literacy level and that's really isolated," said public relations executive Virginia Madueno, who created the booklet. "So we thought, 'Aha! A fotonovela.'"

The Central Valley, a broad agricultural swath that runs up the middle of California, remains a primary distribution point for meth, according to a Justice Department report released last month.

Mexican drug cartels have begun to dominate the trade in the area: Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin said they accounted for more than 80 percent of meth-production arrests in 2003. The federal report suggested that the cartels are looking to expand into other areas with large populations of illegal immigrants.

We were trying to get that message across to a population that has a very low literacy level and that's really isolated," said public relations executive Virginia Madueno, who created the booklet. "So we thought, 'Aha! A fotonovela.'"

That's just great. We tried for so long to increase the
quality of education in this country & the end game was
to flood the country with adults who need comic books to
be told meth is bad & bad for your family.