The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is a United Nations International Day against drug abuse and the illegal drug trade. It has been held annually since 1988 on 26 June, a date chosen to commemorate Lin Zexu‘s dismantling of the opium trade in Humen, Guangdong, just before the First Opium War in China.[citation needed] The observance was instituted by General Assembly Resolution 42/112 of 7 December 1987.
The UN’s 2007 World Drug Report[1] puts the value of the illegal drug trade at US$322 billion a year.[2]