The paper shows slightly over 1 in 1,000 persons use heroin or other opiates and 2 in 1,000 use cocaine in any given year. The types of illicit drugs have increased and their nature has diversified in recent years. Drug-related crimes have increased disproportionately over the past two decades, compared to other crime-related phenomena, and types of crime committed by drug addicts are primarily acquisitive. The number of countries supporting the 1988 United Nations drug control convention has continued to increase over the past 4 years. The price of heroin and cocaine has fallen dramatically in recent years, primarily because the supply of drugs to consumers has greatly increased as a result of increased production. Economic incentives of the drug trade make organized drug trafficking extremely durable. While marijuana has long been the most prevalent globally used drug, sedatives are estimated to be as prevalent if not more so. Relatively few countries keep centralized and internationally comparable records of drug consumption. Adequate evaluations of demand reduction and drug education programs are lacking. Further, many countries decriminalize small-scale or simple possession of some soft drugs, and available data suggest two-thirds of offenders in drug cases are given a non-incarceration sentence. 10 tables and 14 figures