The order of magnitude of the extent of the illicit drug problem should be established in the
light of at least two of the unique characteristics of illicit drugs: first social wise, they are all addictive
substances, a fact that sometimes blurs the dividing line both between use and abuse and between
consumption and addiction; and secondly economically, though commodities that are traded or trafficked, they
are distinguished by low volume but enormously high unit cost and value.
