The illegal drugs market

Abstract

The article analyses the development and organization of the illegal drugs market in Italy. The first three sections of the paper reconstruct the evolution of drug use since the 1960s and discuss the key characteristics of illegal drug users, providing some estimates on their real number. The last three sections focus on the illegal drugs supply, identifying trends and constraints affecting the drug trade in Italy and the rest of Europe and assessing the involvement of southern Italian mafia associations in drug trafficking. © 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd.