Drug Economy

Some 200 million people, or 5 percent of the world's population aged 15 to 64, use drugs at least once a year. The number of opiate users is estimated at around 16 million (11 million of which abuse heroin), while the number of cocaine users is said to be close to 14 million. Confining our overview to heroin and cocaine: Following strong increases in the 1980s, opium production has been basically stable at around 4,000 to 5,000 metric tons per year since the early 1990s. It is also estimated that 87 percent of opium destined for the illicit market is now produced in Afghanistan. As for cocaine, after the peak reached during the second half of the 1990s, production is now estimated at 674 metric tons per year, a 29 percent decrease when compared to the late 1990s. According to a 2005 United Nations report, most of the world's cocaine is produced in three countries: Colombia (50 percent), Peru (32 percent), and Bolivia (15 percent).

Although some commentators tend to focus on the profits generated within heroin- and cocaine-producing countries, many authors would concur that it is at the level of international trafficking, wholesale and retail distribution, namely in consuming countries, that the bulk of the proceeds of the drug economy is found. Descriptions of the drug economy devote specific attention to these three levels, and despite slight definitional differences, it is normally accepted that the organizational structure of the groups involved in this economy varies according to the function or task: manufacturing, international trafficking, or wholesale, medium level, and retail distribution. Large, formally organized groups are said to prevail at the international trafficking level, namely, groups that manage to establish steady partnerships [Page 235]with producers. Trafficking routes, however, shift according to the groups involved, political circumstances, law enforcement efforts, and, finally, legitimate trade routes. The latter aspect is deemed crucial, as illicit drugs would normally follow the same commercial conduits carrying legitimate goods. Countries that are positioned on the traditional trade routes of the main source countries of heroin and cocaine, or are historically engaged in imperial and postimperial relationships with these countries, may therefore be major importers. In such countries, communities of residents whose background is in producing areas are said to play a central importing role.