The author of the report which exposed Russian state-sponsored doping ahead of the Olympics has slammed the IOC for misrepresenting his findings.

Drug testing comes in - student enrolments drop.

A Treasury official suggested the Government could save more than $500 million a year legalising the popular drug.

Russia and her allies have started a fightback to stay in the Rio Olympics after the sensational disclosures about a state-directed doping programme.

Watch NZ Herald Focus: Russia's participation in the Rio Olympics is still uncertain as the IOC explores legal options for banning the country from the Games. Also Lady Gaga and her fiancé, Taylor Kinney, are ending their 5 year relationship

The systemic Russian doping scandal is not deterring two of the country's Paralympic champions from defending their titles at Rio.

Russia run a state-sponsored doping programme at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, that’s according to a report out today. Prime Minister John Key says he can't say if he brought up the case of a New Zealander convicted of drug smuggling in Indonesia with its president.

The principal of one of Auckland's top colleges has urged parents not to smoke cannabis in front of their children.

Giving up alcohol or smoking could soon be much easier - by using a brain implant which stops cravings.

New report says legal high godfather Matt Bowden is living in Thailand and liquidators say they have been unable to contact him.

COMMENT: While Massive meth bust highlighted a new trend in the distribution of methamphetamine in NZ, it likely signals a shift in our underworld too.

A seventh person has been arrested in relation to the country's biggest meth bust in Northland two weeks ago.

COMMENT: Cannabis is one of the most widely available illicit drugs in New Zealand - but what impact is it having on our wellbeing?

Nearly 50kg more methamphetamine has been found by police hidden in sand dunes in Northland.

COMMENT: Marijuana will probably be legalised in New Zealand at some point. It's the way the western world is going, writes Matt Heath.

Two arrests have been made in the second incident this week where residential apartments and motels were being used to supply methamphetamine.

COMMENT: Why do some political leaders change their tune on drugs once they're no longer actively involved in politics?

A couple have been caught allegedly making methamphetamine in a motel in an upmarket Auckland suburb.

COMMENT: A feeble approach will simply send all the wrong messages to our young people and to our families - that drug use isn't that big a deal.

An international conference at the United Nations headquarters this week is expected to agree that the UN's "war on drugs" is over, and it has failed.

COMMENT: The world's approach to drugs simply isn't effective. The prosecute-and-punish model has had its chance and it doesn't work.

COMMENT: Drugs that do nothing for you up to that point have no redeeming social benefit to my mind. But it's not my business.

COMMENT: The days of cannabis prohibition in New Zealand appear to be coming to an end.

COMMENT: We must replace the criminal justice approach with health interventions, just as they did 15 years ago in Portugal, writes Dr Lance O'Sullivan and Tuari Potiki.

Nearly 390,000 Kiwis are illegal drug users - and if tax was paid on the associated trafficking, the Govt would pull in at least $245m a year.

Some New Zealanders are downright idiots when they drink. From couch burning to drunken brawls to smashing bottles in the streets, writes Jenesa Jeram.

Young people who smoke cannabis regularly slide further down the social ladder than their parents, a study has revealed.

A medical experts group convened by Johns Hopkins University and The Lancet have called for decriminalisation of all non-violent drug use and possession.

Hundreds of state houses are testing positive for methamphetamine contamination, but information on suspected properties shows that could get worse.