opioids

A blue capsule is held between thumb and forefinger

Whether analgesic medicine provides meaningful pain relief for people with low back pain is still an open question, a new study has found.

A blurred image of someone walking past the frosted glass windows outside the injecting room at Kings Cross

Violence is no stranger in the world of illicit drugs. But Sydney’s injection room gives its users a much-needed respite from it.

Middle age woman sitting on bed clutches at back in apparent pain

Measures to curb growing rates of opioid use are also making it difficult for people with long-term, chronic pain to get ongoing prescriptions.

2019 Drug Trends Report

The latest Drug Trends report from UNSW Sydney’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre reveals there were 1865 drug-induced deaths in 2019, with a shift to more deaths involving heroin than natural and semi-synthetic opioids.

Few last pills rolling out of a bottle

Opioid dependence – and other problematic opioid behaviours in people with chronic pain –  is associated with patient risk factors, rather than simply higher opioid doses, says a new report.

A hand holds a packet with white narcotic  Photo: Shutterstock

The NSW government has already ruled out five recommendations from the Ice inquiry, including pill testing and more medically-supervised injecting centres.

A needle

A UNSW Criminology Lecturer says there is a clear need for a second safe injecting facility in Sydney due to more overdose deaths.

Opioids

A review of more than 100 studies from around the world has shown that people who use opioids for extramedical reasons have significantly higher rates of mortality.

opioids.jpg

Tamper-resistant tablets prove less attractive to people who inject drugs, but have little effect on population level issues linked to overprescribing, overuse and harm of opioids, new research shows.

24_opioids_shutterstock.jpg

In a reversal of the heroin epidemic of the late 90s and early 2000s, older Australians aged 35 to 54 are now more likely to die from an opioid overdose, a new report reveals.

Pages