Drug and Substance Abuse

It is one of the big challenges of parenting; setting rules around alcohol with teenagers. Is it a good idea to give them a taste early? Is that even legal? 

Wolston Park closed in 2001, but it remains infamous for widespread allegations of sexual abuse, beatings, chemical restraint and “shock therapy” from the 1950s to 1980s. 

An alcohol and drug rehabilitation provider near Esperance vows to review its program after former residents raise concerns about its reliance on unqualified staff and limited mental health support.

As dangerous new opioids arrive on Australian streets, experts are calling for more frontline workers to be issued with naloxone, a medicine that can halt drug overdoses.

Gus Cooke took illegal anabolic steroids for more than a decade and he doesn't recommend their use. A new drug-checking trial aims to minimise harm among steroid users. 

South Australian authorities issue a public warning after a highly toxic synthetic opioid more powerful than morphine was linked to seven fatal overdoses.

Roadside drug testing will be bolstered in SA to allow for on-the-spot cocaine detection, as police seek to reduce the frequency of fatal crashes linked to the illicit substance.

Like her mother, Tarnika became addicted to drugs and went to prison. The number of First Nations women being incarcerated is on the rise.

SA Health is warning of the life-threatening dangers of a synthetic opioid after an Adelaide man almost died in hospital when he consumed a single street-purchased oxycodone pill last week. 

Brought in to reduce skyrocketing rates of alcohol-fuelled violence, the new rules take effect in Broome and Derby today.

The number of police officers targeting alcohol-related crime in WA's remote Kimberley region will be bolstered ahead of new liquor restrictions coming into effect from next week. 

If you've had concerns about a loved one's drug use and haven't known how to help them, you're not alone — new research shows most people don't know where to start.

About 20 children are murdered by a parent every year in Australia. It's a crime that evokes equal measures of horror and confusion. At the crux of the issue is male-perpetrated violence.

Synthetic opioids like fentanyl and nitazenes are already finding their way into Australia's drug supply. Experts are concerned surges in the drug could have fatal consequences and are calling on the government to prepare. 

Jet James was eight when his mother died tragically. His journey back from childhood trauma led him in an unexpected direction.

Police say a synthetic opioid was detected in the systems of four people who died in a house in Broadmeadows, in Melbourne's north last week. A 17-year-old boy was among those who died.

Nitazenes are a new lethal drug that have been linked to mass overdoses and deaths in Australia. The synthetic opioid has authorities and health specialists on high alert, as it continues to appear in drugs ranging from heroin to cocaine and MDMA.

There are fears of more overdoses as nitazenes infiltrate Australia's underground drug supply, with occasional recreational drug users warned the synthetic opioid is being found in drugs like cocaine.

The Gold Coast will host the state's second pill-testing clinic from July as the first of its kind in Brisbane is deemed a "success".

Ahead of new laws cracking down on vape sales coming into effect next week, police are investigating reports bikie gangs are using stand-over tactics on small businesses selling nicotine vapes.

Pill testing will be rolled out across 10 Victorian festivals this summer and a fixed site will be established in the city in a bid to decrease drug overdoses.

A synthetic opioid — which has been linked to a rise in overdose deaths overseas — has emerged on the illicit drug scene, with some experts warning it has the potential to be Australia's version of a "fentanyl crisis".

Victoria will trial pill testing of illicit drugs this summer, Premier Jacinta Allan has announced, saying it was "a common sense way to save lives".

Vapes will be banned from sale outside pharmacies, but adults will not need a prescription to buy them, as the federal government agrees to water down its proposed ban to win over the Greens.

Andrew Wilkie says the AFL "dodged a WADA breach on a technicality" as Sport Integrity Australia finds there is no evidence to support the MP's explosive claims.