Drug and Substance Abuse

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.

While the desired effects of the party drug are euphoria, increased sociability and an increased sexual libido, the drug is extremely dose and tolerance dependent.

Prosecutors reduced the initial charge of drug trafficking to the less serious charge of drug use, after police determined he was a drug user.

Hunter Biden's status as a convicted liar could breathe some life into Republicans' efforts to bring down his father, while complicating the mileage Joe Biden can get out of Donald Trump's legal woes.

The Director of Liquor Licensing announces the sale of takeaway alcohol in the Kimberley town of Derby will be banned each Sunday and Monday, alongside further restrictions on trading hours in Broome. 

Despite moving to Australia as a child and raising his whole family here, a criminal conviction over methamphetamine means Stephen is facing deportation to a country where he has no ties.

The residents of Rainbow Lodge have committed multiple crimes and been in and out of prison for decades. For many, its program is their last chance to take responsibility for their actions and prove they're ready for the outside world – but one slip-up could land them back inside.

Weijie He murdered his girlfriend Liqun Pan during what he claimed was a drug-induced psychosis from long-term nitrous oxide use before jumping off a Wolli Creek balcony in 2020.

Three years ago, Oregon became the first state in the US to decriminalise the possession of hard drugs. Now, they're about to reverse course saying it's lead to an extraordinary rise in overdoses and crimes.

Welcome to Portland, Oregon, the US city that decriminalised drugs and nearly immediately regretted it.

His autopsy, released in December, found that the amount of ketamine in Perry's blood was in the range used for general anaesthesia during surgery.