Children in Mexico Using Drugs to Fight Hunger Pains

Children as young as 12 using spray paint

MATAMOROS, MEXICO - On the fringes of town in a colonia near a toxic dump, NEWSCHANNEL 5 has found groups of children, so hungry they're turning to drugs to battle hunger pains.

The children say they can't find enough food, so they're huffing spraypaint to ease the pain.

NEWSCHANNEL 5 has learned that children as young as twelve are using the paint.

City leaders in Matamoros say caring for the children is very difficult.

Many of them live in poverty on the streets without parents. While some of the children are rescued, the problem at the dump is overwhelming.