‘Some patients don’t realise cannabis is actually a drug’

As the government downgrades cannabis from class B to C, Alok Jha talks to leading psychiatrist Robin Murray, whose research is fuelling fears about the drug's safety.

Drug incentive schemes under fire

Pharmaceutical firms accused of overstepping advertising rules.

Patients to get cannabis in hospital

Controversial trial of 'whole plant' drug after surgery.

Deadly cost of the trade in online prescription drugs

Last week an inquest found that Liam Brackell killed himself after becoming addicted to drugs that he bought on the internet. Here, The Observer reveals the shocking scale of this trade in Prozac, Ritalin, Seroxat and Zyban. Antony Barnett reports.

Ecstasy gone awry

Karen Armstrong: The restless search for bliss that now fuels the drug industry is part of human nature.

Scourge of the Ritalin pushers

It transforms the lives of many 'hyper' children, but as pupils peddle it at school, a new drug nightmare is unfolding.