More commonly known by the street names speed, ice or crystal meth, both amphetamine and methamphetamine belong to a group of stimulant drugs called amphetamines.
Australia has one of the highest rates…
Members of the Olympic men’s 4x100-metre freestyle relay team James McEvoy, James Magnussen and Eamon Sullivan at a news conference in Sydney yesterday.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
It was a bonding session that involved prank phone calls, knocking on doors late at night and other acts of “harmless fun”. The men’s 4x100m Olympic freestyle relay team made it sound like they were boys…
We might pay more for cocaine in Australia but the social and economic costs of its use reach beyond our shores.
Corbis
According to the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, Australians are now the world’s eighth highest per capita users of cocaine.
Cocaine use within the wealthier echelons of society is so unremarkable…
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou (centre) has flagged a rise in positive test results, but changes to drug policies won’t necessarily help.
AAP/Joe Castro
The AFL’s approach to illicit drugs was championed as a world leader of drugs-in-sport policy when it was implemented in 2005. It was fair, humane and had been effective in reducing match day and out-of…
Researchers found early and persistent cannabis users showed an eight-point decline in IQ compared to those who hadn’t used cannabis in this way.
Jonah G.S.
A study published today in the scholarly journal PNAS questions the conclusion of a paper from last year that was widely seen as greatly strengthening the evidence that regular cannabis use beginning in…
Trials show ketamine acts more quickly than other antidepressants because it affects different parts of the brain.
JLM Photography
The drug ketamine has been used for medical purposes since it was developed in the 1960s, but it is perhaps more widely known for its illicit use as a hallucinogenic tranquiliser. Now we’re beginning to…
The finger has been pointed at Collingwood player Dane Swan in the latest drugs in sports ‘scandal’.
AAP
Here we go again. Another high profile sportsperson has been implicated in the latest drugs in sport “scandal”.
This time the finger is being pointed at Collingwood Brownlow medallist Dane Swan. The same…
The products marketed as “legal weed” might cause more harm than the real thing.
prensa
Synthetic cannabis is a lab-made product that mimics the effects of cannabis to give users a high when smoked. It has been sold in Australia since 2011 under various brand names, with a range of chemical…
Most overdose deaths are due to heroin but an increasing number are due to pain relieving prescription opioid drugs.
Thomas Marthinsen
By Alex Wodak, St Vincent's Hospital, Darlinghurst
Once again, overdose deaths from opioids are increasing in Australia. And once again, we are in danger of ignoring effective, evidence-based interventions.
According to the National Drug and Alcohol Research…
The possession and use of cannabis and ecstasy should be decriminalised for Australians aged 16 and over.
garyowen
Sixteen years ago the premier of Victoria, Jeff Kennett, asked me to conduct an inquiry into drug policy. At the time, deaths from heroin overdoses were high and the use of cannabis and other drugs continued…
Benefits and risks have to be assessed when looking for medical uses of drugs.
Harsh Vardhan
Should governments make it easier to perform human research to discover medical uses of illicit drugs such as cannabis, ecstasy (MDMA) and LSD?
Professor David Nutt of Imperial College London argued recently…
Neuroscientists are making great strides in addiction studies, even with a limited access to drugs.
reidmix
By Jhodie Duncan, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Criminalisation of many drugs of abuse has done little to deter their use. Recent estimates tell us nearly one in 20 individuals aged between 15 and 64 are experimenting with illicit drug use worldwide…
It’s difficult to detect impairment among doctors, but drug testing won’t solve all our problems.
Best In Plastics
Doctors, just like the rest of the population, make personal choices about drug use. Some choose to use legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol; others take illicit substances like cannabis and amphetamines…
There isn’t much sympathy for convicted Australian drug smugglers in Indonesia.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
Schapelle Corby’s fate may be the centre of public attention in Australia, but not here in Indonesia where I currently live and work. The hot topic here for the past few days has been whether or not Lady…
Drugs smuggled into a South Australian prison. If jails can’t be kept drug free, what hope is there for wider society?
AAP/Thuy On
Australians have always loved their drugs – more so than any other nation in which those same drugs are proscribed and used under threat of native, criminal penalties.
Drug taking is a national trait…
The internet has increased opportunities to buy illicit drugs and accelerated drug trends.
Presna
The Australia21 report argues the “war on drugs” has failed and we should consider other options for controlling drugs, such as decriminalisation or regulation. In addition to these arguments, an important…
Slain underworld figure Carl Williams, who made a living trafficking illicit drugs, is carried from his 2010 funeral in a gold coffin.
AAP
Policy making is supposedly influenced by scientific evidence, which in turn leads to better political, social and economic outcomes, depending on the issue at hand. One would like to think that in a moderately…
Development agencies can’t ignore the impact of illicit drugs.
AAP
Around 6% of the world’s population aged 15 to 64 use illicit drugs – that’s 250 million people. It’s a rapidly changing population, with many different pathways to illicit drug use and new users constantly…
Synthetic cannabis, known commercially as Kronic, K2, Kaos or Spice, was designed to circumvent drug laws and give users a “legal high”. But Western Australia banned the product earlier this month and…
