Opium: Reality’s Dark Dream by Thomas Dormandy – review
A deft history of opium spans the personal and the political, writes John Gallagher
Why have student drug users become so reckless?
Recreational drugs have mutated from mood-enhancing to bladder-destroying. And no one seems to care
Dr Dillner’s health dilemmas: is it safe to take sleeping pills?
Even a few sleeping tablets may increase your risk of early death, according to new research. So what should insomniacs do now?
Louise lit up our lives. Let her tragic death be a beacon of hope on drugs
A year ago, 21-year-old Louise Cattell drowned in her bath after taking ketamine. Her mother, Vicky Unwin, says action is needed to stop other deaths
One year on, why I want young people to learn from my daughter’s death
Vicky Unwin, whose daughter died after taking ketamine, is helping to launch a petition calling for compulsory drug education
Death by denial: The campaigners who continue to deny HIV causes Aids
Brian Deer: As each of their followers dies, those who campaign against HIV treatments simply move on to the next level of denial
Mayo Clinic plans to sequence patients’ genomes to personalise care
Project will give doctors the genetic information they need to choose drugs that work best and minimise side effects
Should we put lithium in the water?
A psychiatrist in Ireland has suggested that putting psychiatric medicine in drinking water could cut the suicide rate
Antibiotics can’t cure colds – but a placebo may
Andrew Brown: The overprescribing of antibiotics by under-pressure GPs to a public convinced they cure colds could prove fatal in the long run
Ibuprofen warning to pregnant women
New research shows that taking certain painkillers in first 20 weeks increases risk of miscarriage by 2.4 times
Chronic pain: the search for a killer
Millions live with chronic pain, but medicine has had little luck finding cures. Could a new range of painkillers give them hope at last, writes Robin McKie
Sunscreen pill could be available within five years, scientists say
Researchers uncover way coral shields itself against harmful ultraviolet rays and believe it could pave way for anti-sun compound to protect humans
Owners of Ubertan tanning spray could face two years in prison
Government watchdog MHRA advises people not to use the tanning nasal spray, which was being sold illegally in the UK
Drug for hyperactivity may help reverse memory decline in ageing brains
A drug that lowers levels of a chemical called cAMP could improve working memory, a study in monkeys suggests
Anti-HIV drug made by GM plants begins trials in humans
The antiviral was manufactured in GM tobacco with a view to using the same technique to slash the cost of other life-saving drugs in the developing world