International Drug Prices

Most of the principal illicit drugs used in the US are produced overseas, so international markets for these substances bear on US drug availability, prices, use, and consequences. Prices are a key characteristic of these markets, but international drug prices information in the open literature primarily consists of summary or representative figures cited in official publications. This paper seeks to augment that information base by systematically examining international prices observations in the Drug Enforcement Administration's STRIDE database. Results are generally consistent with conventional reporting of these prices. Some evidence of quantity discounts (alternately, price markups along the distribution chain) is found in source and transshipment countries.