this annual report of the world geopolitics of drugs (1998/1999) is even more indispensable than earlier ones for the simple and regrettable reason that it is the last report. everyone who studies the international traffic in narcotics, or writes about it, or is merely concerned with it as a responsible citizen, is forever in the debt of alain labrousse and his coworkers at the ogd in paris, and his rapporteurs around the globe. this report, just like all the previous ones, is encyclopedic, there is nothing that is not taken into account. those who read it will immediately understand its extraordinary value.