This article estimates the magnitude of monetary resources which Chile loses or forgoes owing to the trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs. On the basis of a "cost-of-illness" methodology, it is estimated that in 2006 drug consumption in Chile represented an economic burden of 266.744 billion pesos —or USUS$ 503 million in current prices that year— equivalent to 0.45% of gross domestic product (gdp) and a per capita cost of 16,232 Chilean pesos or USUS$ 31. The bulk of this sum is related to law enforcement for drug crime or other related offences (47%) and productivity losses reflected in the burden of disability-adjusted life years (46%).