PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Martin McKee TI - Opium, tobacco and alcohol: the evolving legitimacy of international action AID - 10.7861/clinmedicine.9-4-338 DP - 2009 Aug 01 TA - Clinical Medicine PG - 338--341 VI - 9 IP - 4 4099 - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/9/4/338.short 4100 - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/9/4/338.full SO - Clin Med2009 Aug 01; 9 AB - There is a broad consensus that international trade in goods is beneficial, providing of course that it is fair. Yet not all things that are traded are goods. Some can more appropriately be considered as ‘bads’. The way things are viewed can change over time. Over a century ago the UK fought a war with China for the right to trade in narcotics yet now interdicts such shipments on the high seas. More recently, the international community has agreed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, showing that tobacco is moving from a good to a bad. However, there are other things that are legitimately traded where restrictions may be needed, such as alcohol. Global trade is simply a means to an end. The ultimate goal must include better health for all.