Drugs policymakers of the 1980s knew the score

Mary O'Hara: This is not the time to undermine harm reduction strategies such as the needle exchange programme, bravely, and surprisingly, initiated by Thatcher and her Tory government

Is Viagra about to lose its pulling power in the UK?

Pfizer, the maker of Viagra, is shortly to lose its patent protection in the UK. So how will it affect the company's performance?

Drugs 2.0: The Web Revolution That’s Changing How the World Gets High by Mike Power – review

The web has transformed drug use in profound and unsettling ways, finds Carole Cadwalladr

Pfizer will offer Viagra online in attempt to counter illicit pills

Maker of erectile dysfunction treatment say counterfeit pills available online can contain printer ink and pesticides

The drugs do work: my life on brain enhancers

Could an unlicensed mind pill restore the energy lost to multiple sclerosis? For novelist MJ Hyland, who feared her working life was over, it was worth the risk…

Drugs 2.0: The Web Revolution That’s Changing How the World Gets High by Mike Power – review

Steven Poole on a fascinating and funny study of the new drug scene

Students: just say no to sugar

Forget illegal drugs, students are overdosing on sugar. Little do they know that binging on sweet food is a serious form of substance abuse

Why are Britons more susceptible to disease?

Report reveals smoking, diet, alcohol and drugs are the main contributors to the UK's below average healthy life expectancy

Painkiller addiction: the plague that is sweeping the US

Ed Pilkington: Prescription pill overdoses are killing 15,000 Americans a year, and the toll is growing

What drugs do students take?

The world's biggest survey of drug use is underway, and the Guardian is asking UK students to share their experiences – anonymously of course

Smart drugs: would you try them?

Having seen the effect drugs like Modafinil have had on my friends, I'm steering clear

Drug-taking is less prevalent on campus than students think

Students believe their friends are all experimenting with drugs, but survey shows that's not true

Ben Goldacre: ‘It’s appalling … like phone hacking or MPs’ expenses’

Ben Goldacre's first book, Bad Science, shredded the claims of homeopaths and fake doctors. For his second he has his sights trained on the pharmaceutical industry. Ian Tucker puts your questions to him