One may rightly wonder how a society with only 21 million people can possibly consume so much narcotic drugs. Could the bulk of drugs seized have been actually destined for other parts of the world? To answer this question one must first find out the number of drug offenders to ascertain the size of the drug market. In the Republic of China, the production, trafficking, dealing, possession and use of narcotic drugs are all criminal offenses under the Narcotics Eradication Statute and the Narcotic Drugs Control Statute, punishable by penalties ranging from death, life imprisonment to fines. In 1993, 47,836 persons were convicted for drug offenses, accounting, for 31.66% of total convicted criminals, up 70% from 1992 and 3.26 times the figure of 1991. Among the 47,836 drug offenders, about 93% were pure users or dealer-users, the rest were pure producers, traffickers, dealers or possessors.