The Bulletin on Narcotics is designed to provide information on developments in drug control at the local, national, regional and international levels that would benefit the international community. It is a United Nations publication that is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Individuals and organizations are invited by the Editor to contribute articles to the Bulletin dealing with policies, approaches, measures and developments (theoretical and/or practical) relating to various aspects of the drug control effort. Of particular interest are the results of research, studies and practical experience that would provide useful information for policy makers, practitioners and experts, as well as the public at large. The present issue of the Bulletin contains papers that were originally prepared for the Third International Symposium on the economic and Social Costs of Substance Abuse, organized by the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse in Banff, Alberta, Canada, from 31 May to 3 June 2000

Contents:
• Introduction: improving economic data to inform decisions in drug control; by D. Collins, H. Lapsley, J. LeCavalier and E. Single
• Economic evaluation of policies and programmes: further uses of estimates of the social costs of substance abuse ; by D. Collins and H. Lapsley
• The cost to employers of employee alcohol abuse: a review of the literature in the United States of America ; by H. J. Harwood and M. B. Reichman
• Attributable fractions for alcohol and illicit drugs in relation to crime in Canada: conceptualization, methods and internal consistency of estimates ; by K. Pernanen, S. Brochu, M.-M. Cousineau, L.-G. Cournoyer and Fu Sun
• Estimating the costs of substance abuse to state budgets in the United States of America ; by S. E. Foster and D. Modi
• Estimating the economic costs of drug abuse in Colombia; by A. Pérez-Gómez and E. Wilson-Caicedo
• Illegal activities and the generation of value added: size, causes and measurement of shadow economies; by F. Schneider