In the Central Asian republics, opium poppies and cannabis are being cultivated on thousands of acres. Hungary and the Czech Republic have become major transit countries for Asian heroin destined for West Europe. Further, health officials in Poland have warned that a dramatic rise in intravenous drug abuse in Warsaw has unleashed an AIDS epidemic. Drug traffickers are moving drugs and money throughout the international economy with virtual impunity, and the level of drug consumption is exploding in many countries. Data on global drug production and the "big business" of drug trafficking are provided. Trends in global drug consumption are reviewed, and social and economic dislocations associated with the end of the Cold War and their impact on drug abuse and drug trafficking are addressed. The need for an international response to the drug trade is emphasized.