Drugs are big business.

Illicit intoxicants are produced, sold or consumed in every country in the world, employing farmers, security guards, chemists, accountants, pilots, lawyers, bankers and dealers.

The best estimates claim that the international drug trade is worth about $450 billion a year-a little less than the GDP of Russia and a little more than the revenue generated by the entire world-wide tourism industry.

And business is booming: both the number of drugs produced and the number of people taking them continue to grow.

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