Economics

1. According to the United Nations, drug trafficking is a $400 billion per year industry, equaling 8% of the world's trade. This is greater than the exports of the automobile industry, worldwide.

   Source: Associated Press, "U.N. Estimates Drug Business Equal to 8 Percent of World Trade," (1997, June 26).

2. It costs approximately $8.6 billion a year to keep drug law violators behind bars.

   Sources: Bureau of Justice Statistics, Profile of Jail Inmates 1996, Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1996, April), p. 1 & p. 4; Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 1996, Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1997), pp. 10-11; Criminal Justice Institute, Inc., The Corrections Yearbook 1997, South Salem, NY: Criminal Justice Institute, Inc. (1997) [estimating cost of a day in jail on average to be $55.41 a day, or $20,237 a year, and the cost of prison to be on average to be about $64.49 a day, or $23,554 a year].

3. A 1998 report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) estimated the economic costs of alcohol abuse in the United States to be $148.02 billion in 1992, 80% of which were due to alcohol-related illness. This 80% figure includes health care expenditures, impaired productivity and premature death. To contrast, drug abuse cost a total of $97.66 billion in 1992, of which less than 40% ($38.71 billion) was due to drug-related illness or premature death. This figure includes $4.16 billion in HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis treatment costs.

   Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Economic Costs of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the United States, 1992. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Table 1.1, p. 1-3 and Table 4.1, p. 4-2 (1998, May).

4. A 1998 report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) estimated the economic costs of drug abuse in the United States to be $97.66 billion in 1992. Sixty percent (60%) of drug costs were due to drug-related law enforcement, incarceration and crime. Only 3% of drug costs were from victims of drug-related crime.

   Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Economic Costs of Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the United States, 1992. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Table 1.2, p. 1-6 (1998, May).

5. According to the United Nations, illegal drugs create enormous profits -- kilogram of raw opium in Pakistan averages $90, but sells for $290,000 in the United States.

   Source: Associated Press, "U.N. Estimates Drug Business Equal to 8 Percent of World Trade," (1997, June 26).

6. According to the United Nations, profits in illegal drugs are so inflated, that three-quarters of all drug shipments would have to be intercepted to seriously reduce the profitability of the business. Current efforts only intercept 30% of cocaine shipments and 10%-15% of heroin shipments.

   Source: Associated Press, "U.N. Estimates Drug Business Equal to 8 Percent of World Trade," (1997, June 26).

7. In 1969, $65 million was spent by the Nixon administration on the drug war; in 1982 the Reagan administration spent $1.65 billion; and in 1998 the Clinton administration requested $17.1 billion.

   Sources: U.S. Congress, Hearings on Federal Drug Enforcement before the Senate Committee on Investigations, 1975 and 1976 (1976); Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy, 1992: Budget Summary, p. 214, Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1992); Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control Strategy, 1998: Budget Summary, p. 5, Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1998).

8. Recent estimates indicate that Colombia repatriates $7 billion in drug profits annually, which is nearly as high as the total legitimate exports for Colombia which were $7.6 billion in 1993.

   Source: Trade and Environment Database (TED), TED Case Studies: Columbia Coca Trade, Washington D.C.: American University (1997), p. 4.

9. It is estimated that Colombian narcotics cartels spend $100 million on bribes to Colombian officials each year.

   Source: Trade and Environment Database (TED), TED Case Studies: Columbia Coca Trade, Washington D.C.: American University (1997), p. 4.

10. In 1993, 98% of Bolivia's foreign exchange earnings from goods and services came from the coca market.

    Source: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Alternative Coca Reduction Strategies in the Andean Region, F-556, Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1993, July).

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