SAO PAOLO, Brazil--In this, the financial capital of the largest economy in Latin America, the current economic boom is fast transforming Brazil into the new transport point for the drug trade. As Mexico’s War on Drugs takes its toll on the organizational structure of the drug cartels straddling the U.S.-Mexico border, the Narcos are shifting their operations closer to the source of the cocaine that fuels the global drug trade.

From New America Media and Richmond Pulse: Across the San Francisco Bay Area, young people are using all kinds of drugs – well known, obscure, illegal and prescription. Although the names and effects of the drugs may vary, what’s consistent is that youth are a major segment of the population abusing them, often mixing multiple substances at the same time. And in Oakland, Richmond and other East Bay communities, it’s the prescription drugs that appear to be gaining popularity among youth.