Drugs and oil

Global oil production 80 million barrels per day x £50 a barrel = £1,500 billion per annum (about the same as the UK's GDP). Let's double that for taxes, refining costs, profits etc, call it £3,000 billion a year, globally.

Number of heroin addicts in UK (estimate) 300,000 out of population 60 million, average daily spend £15 (half a gram) = £1.6 billion. The UK is only 1% of world population - but clearly we are richer so pay more for heroin. Let's times that by 50 then, assuming average world street price is only half what it is in the UK = £80 billion, globally. Let's double that to include other drugs, £160 billion. But most drug users fund themselves with crime; to raise £15 they have to commit a crime that 'costs' society five times that (people scared to go on streets, repairing broken windows, higher insurance bills, police time, prison places etc) = £800 billion.

So, yes, global oil trade is more important that global drugs trade in £-s-d, but it's only four times as big.

* A few years ago I read that the global drugs and oil trades were roughly of equal value, bearing in mind that the oil price has more than doubled, and the street price of heroin has halved in the last five years, this seems 'about right' within a fair margin of error.