Retail and wholesale prices of heroin in US have fallen dramatically since 1990's

[Magda Hassan]

Heroin prices

Jun 25th 2009
From The Economist print edition

The retail and wholesale prices of heroin in America have fallen dramatically since the early 1990s. One gram of heroin in the retail market cost $131 in 2007, the lowest price since UN records began in 1990. The $60 margin between wholesale and retail prices in 2007 was also a record low, suggesting an increasingly competitive retail market. American wholesale prices remain at around twice the level in Western Europe. The UN estimates that annual opiate production—almost all of which is from Afghanistan—jumped to about 8,900 tonnes in 2007, having been flat at around 4,500 tonnes over the previous decade. Seizures of heroin rose to 65 tonnes in 2007 but were still only a small fraction of global production.

http://www.economist.com/markets/indicat...d=13917432