Global health. The current scenario and future perspectives

211 various levels.”. It further adds that “One finding that everybody agrees on, with respect to the illegal drugs economy, is that this and organized crime cannot survive without corruption. ” . Equally important are the costs that states must face in controlling the production and commercialization of illicit drugs. In many countries, these expenses detract from investments in other needs such as health and education. These amounts include those allocated to police activities, the justice system and penitentiary systems. For example, a recent publication by the Global Commission on Drug Policy states the following: “Drug control policy has an annual cost of 100 billion dollars concentrated in law enforcement and militarization of responses to drug trafficking. The illegal market has an estimated value of 500 billion dollars which is controlled by transnational organized crime outside any financial scrutiny. ”. In the United States, according to a report published in 2011 by the Department of Justice (National Drug Intelligence Center), in 2007, direct and indirect costs attributed to illicit drugs amounted to USD 193 billion, mainly within the Criminal Justice System (USD 56 billion) and incarceration (USD 48 billion). Furthermore, Midgette et al. provide estimates for user spending on four specific drugs in the United States from 2006 to 2016. Figure 3 summarizes the findings presented in their report where total spending for these four substances exceeds USD 140 billion for each of the last three years analyzed, but also shows significant changes over time such as a reduction in cocaine spending by less than half while marijuana and heroin spending increased between 2006-2016. Figure 3: Annual Spending per Substance Type - United States - 2006-2016 Source: Own elaboration on the information available in the RAND report, in Midgette et al. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Billons of dollars Annual spending by type of substance, United States, 2006-2016 Cocaine Heroin Methanfetamine Marijuana