sion rate. One thousand dollars will buy the same market basket of goods
in the US as one thousand dollars - converted to the local currency at the PPP
conversion rate - will buy in the other country. GNP/GDP estimates for the
LDCs, on the other hand, are based on the conversion of GNP/GDP estimates in
local currencies to dollars at the official currency exchange rates. One
caution: the proportion of, say, defense expenditures as a percent of GNP/GDP
in local currency accounts may differ substantially from the proportion when
GNP/GDP accounts are expressed in PPP terms, as, for example, when an observer
estimates the dollar level of Russian or Japanese military expenditures;
similar problems exist when components are expressed in dollars under currency
exchange rate procedures. Finally, as academic research moves forward on the
PPP method, we hope to convert all GNP/GDP estimates to this method in future
editions of The World Factbook.

Growth rate (population): The annual percent change in the population,
resulting from a surplus (or deficit) of births over deaths and the balance
of migrants entering and leaving a country. The rate may be positive or
negative.

Illicit drugs: There are five categories of illicit drugs - narcotics,
stimulants, depressants (sedatives), hallucinogens, and cannabis. These
categories include many drugs legally produced and prescribed by doctors as
well as those illegally produced and sold outside medical channels.

Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) is the common hemp plant, which provides
hallucinogens with some sedative properties, and includes marijuana (pot,
Acapulco gold, grass, reefer), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Marinol), hashish
(hash), and hashish oil (hash oil).

Coca (Erythroxylon coca) is a bush, and the leaves contain the stimulant
cocaine. Coca is not to be confused with cocoa, which comes from cacao seeds
and is used in making chocolate, cocoa, and cocoa butter.

Cocaine is a stimulant derived from the leaves of the coca bush.

Depressants (sedatives) are drugs that reduce tension and anxiety and include
chloral hydrate, barbiturates (Amytal, Nembutal, Seconal, phenobarbital),
benzodiazepines (Librium, Valium), methaqualone (Quaalude), glutethimide
(Doriden), and others (Equanil, Placidyl, Valmid).

Drugs are any chemical substances that effect a physical, mental, emotional,
or behavioral change in an individual.

Drug abuse is the use of any licit or illicit chemical substance