The debts we have incurred in the making of this book are twofold. First of all, we are indebted to those who helped in 1970 to bring the International Research Group on Drug Legislation and Programs (the Consortium) into existence, and those who subsequently supported its work. Among the first group are the delegates to the UN Narcotics Commission of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Iran, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States; to their support was added the assistance of other officials and individuals in Canada, Egypt, Finland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzer-land, the United Kingdom, the United States, West Germany, and Yugoslavia. Among international organizations the partici-pation of the United Nations Social Defence Research Institute is particularly appreciated. Among government-affiliated agencies giving financial support, we wish to acknowledge with thanks the Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies, the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, and the United States Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Among private institutions the Consortium is indebted to Stanford University, California, and the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependence, London. A grant from a group of European pharmaceutical firms is also gratefully acknowledged. The research reported here was supported in part by a grant from the Drug Abuse Council, Inc., Washington. All this support notwithstanding, little of the Consortium's work would have been accomplished without the unflagging energy and able efforts of its chairman, Richard Blum.

Secondly, we wish to thank all those who assisted us at various stages of the work reported in this particular publication. We are grateful to those named in the list of interviewees appearing in the Note on Sources for giving so generously of their time and knowledge. As it has been the rule of the Consortium to distribute drafts of its project materials for comment and miticism, this book has benefited enormously from the considerable consulting which has occurred in its preparation among both the members of the Consortium and other experts. We are particularly gratefitl for the editorial assistance of Richard Blum, Dick Joyce, and Jasper Woodcock. We have been fortunate in having Lawrence Hoover, Jr., as our consultant. Comments on the book in draft form were also received from Peter Beedle of the British Home Office, London; Pekka Kuusi of the Finnish State Alcohol Monopoly, Helsinki, and Kjell Skjelsbaek of the Peace Research Institute, Oslo. Their help is gratefully acknowledged. We also wish to record our thanks to Gita Friman, Pamela Hulls, Barbara Redman and Anita Tombez, who carefully typed successive drafts of the manuscript. In particular, we would like to thank Agneta Bruun and Catherine Stenzl for valuable assistance in the compi-lation of data.

Because each person participates in the work of the Consor-tium as an individual, even though he may simultaneously be an official elsewhere, it is important to stress that no participant, consultant, editor, or agency, nor any institution or nation, can take responsibility for what any individual author has written in any of the Consortium's publications.

Geneva, July 1973