  thumb|450px|international drug routes. the illegal drug trade is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of drugs that are subject to drug prohibition laws. most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. a un report said, "the global drug trade generated an estimated us $321.6 billion in 2003.""un report puts world's illicit drug trade at estimated usd$321b". boston.com. june 30, 2005. with a world gdp of us$36 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally. ==history==  chinese edicts against opium smoking were made in 1729, 1796 and 1800.  addictive drugs were prohibited in the west in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. an illegal drug trade emerged in the early 19th century. china retaliated by enforcing the ban on imports of opium that led to the first opium war (18391842) between great britain and qing dynasty china. chinese authorities had banned opium, but the united kingdom forced china to allow british merchants to trade opium with the general population. smoking opium had become common in the 19th century, and british merchants increased their trade with the chinese. trading in opium was lucrative. as a result of this illegal trade, by 1838 the number of chinese opium addicts had grown to between four and twelve million. th
Ethically_disputed_business_practices Illegal_drug_trade Organized_crime_activity Smuggling