Opioid-dependent patients are five times more likely to die in the first four weeks of treatment if they are prescribed methadone rather than the alternative treatment, buprenorphine, a new study shows.
A study by UNSW's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre has found the number of Australians receiving treatment for dependence on the painkillers codeine and oxycodone trebled in ten years.
Contrary to popular opinion, teenage drinking in Australia has declined dramatically over the past fifteen years, write Michael Livingston and Amy Pennay.
Juvenile crime rates in the NSW town of Armidale have been halved over the past seven years, thanks to an innovative, community-based skills program aimed at 14- to 17-year-olds.
Pill testing kits or booths at venues where pills are known to be consumed could inform users about the content of illicit drugs, writes Alison Ritter.
Eureka Prize-winner Professor Maree Teesson has been named as one of the country's leading innovators in the prestigious 100 Most Influential Women awards.
Teenagers who use cannabis daily before the age of 17 are 60% less likely to complete high school and seven times more likely to attempt suicide than those who haven't used the drug, UNSW research shows.
Teenagers whose parents supply alcohol in adolescence are three times as likely to be drinking full serves of alcohol at 16 compared to teens in families that do not, a major NDARC study has found.
Depression, alcohol and drug dependence are indiscriminate killers. It doesn’t matter how wealthy, funny or beautiful you are, write Katherine Mills, Frances Kay-Lambkin and Maree Teesson.
Drivers for legalising cannabis are more likely to be political and based on public opinion, rather than econimic arguments, write Marian Shanahan and Alison Ritter.
