The Global Burden of Disease projects: What have we learned about illicit drug use and dependence and their contribution to the global burden of disease?

Estimates of the extent and distribution of disease burden are likely to shape global and regional health policy development. The GBD exercise will be repeated on an annual basis; GBD 2010 clearly demonstrated that although the illicit drug field is generating more and better epidemiological data on the health risks of drug use, there is still much work to be done to generate defensible estimates of the magnitude of risk, particularly for impactful and prevalent outcomes, such as injuries, violence and mental health complications. Until then, burden of disease attributable to illicit drugs will be underestimated.