The study was commissioned by the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the Texas Pharmacy Foundation to assess the prevalence of senior citizens crossing the border to purchase medications at cheaper prices from Mexican drug outlets. The researchers examined 5,624 declaration forms from the Laredo, Texas border crossing filed on 84 days between July 1994 and June 1995.
People declaring pharmaceuticals are generally young.
The median age was even younger, at 24 years for males and 35 years for females. Although most of the people declaring drugs said they were from Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, some said they resided in states as far away as Alaska and Massachusetts.