Recent alcohol research addresses topics such as:

• Screening and brief interventions
• Patterns of alcohol consumption, alcohol and injury
• Youth use of alcohol
• Treatment options
• Cultural perspectives and practices
• Alcohol and pregnancy
• The pharmacokinetics of alcohol.

Research into illicit drug use in New Zealand includes:

• Cannabis use
• Opioid substitution programmes
• Prescription drug misuse
• Impacts of methamphetamine use
• Cognitive effects of drug use
• The effect of addictions on families
• The psycho-pharmacology of various drug actions.

A number of recent projects have also focused on emergent synthetic and combination drugs (e.g. party pills, Kronic, Fantasy) and this research has been used in government policy decisions.