This roundup of research focuses on border barriers — what they are, why they have become popular, whether they actually help countries control their borders and how they impact the environment and local communities.

More newborns suffer from drug withdrawal in counties experiencing shortages of mental health care providers and higher rates of unemployment.

A new study identifies one important driver of heroin overdoses in the United States: the reformulation of Oxycontin.

Benzodiazepine prescriptions are on the rise. We explain the anti-anxiety drugs' potential for abuse, addiction and overdose.

Two new studies show that American patients in the rural South are more likely to receive opioid prescriptions than patients in the urban North.

Adults who had incarcerated parents are less likely to get medical care when they need it and more likely to engage in risky behaviors.

A forthcoming study suggests both black and white bail judges show bias against black men facing criminal charges.

After the passage of California’s Proposition 47, which reduced criminal penalties for drug possession, felony drug arrest rates declined and racial disparities among these arrests decreased.

A new study records discrepancies in the reporting of cases of newborn exposure to illicit substances to state agencies in Illinois.

Key facts and the latest scholarship on methamphetamine, a highly addictive drug that has recently made a resurgence.