About Filter

Filter launched in September 2018 and is based in New York City. Our mission is to advocate through journalism for rational and compassionate approaches to drug use, drug policy and human rights.

Filter is owned and operated by The Influence Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. You can read about The Influence Foundation’s structure and funding here. You can follow Filter on Facebook and Twitter, or sign up for our daily or weekly email newsletters here.

 

Editorial team

Will Godfrey – Editor-in-chief 

@godfreywill

 

 

 

 

Will is the founding editor-in-chief of Filter, and executive director of The Influence Foundation, the nonprofit behind Filter. He has worked as an editor and journalist in the drugs and human rights spaces for almost 20 years. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of The Influence, covering drug policy and related areas, and also founded and ran Substance, another harm reduction-oriented news site. His previous roles include cofounding and editing an award-winning print publication written by and for incarcerated people in London. 

 

Kastalia Medrano – Deputy Editor

@kastaliamedrano


Kastalia previously worked at a number of other media outlets and would not recommend the drug coverage at any of them. For a while she was also a syringe program peer worker in NYC, where she did outreach hep C testing and navigated participants through treatment.

 

Helen Redmond – Senior Editor

@aftariak

Helen is a multimedia journalist on the methadone, vaping and nicotine train. She is also a filmmaker. Her two documentaries about methadone are Liquid Handcuffs and Swallow THIS. As an LCSW, she has worked with people who use drugs for over two decades. Helen is an adjunct assistant professor and teaches a course about the War on Drugs at NYU. She lives in Harlem.

 

Alexander Lekhtman – Staff Writer

@A_Lekhtman

Alexander writes about the movement to end the War on Drugs. He grew up in New Jersey and swears it’s actually alright. He’s also a musician hoping to change the world through the power of ledger lines and legislation. Alexander was previously Filter‘s editorial fellow.

 

Kiran Sidhu – Tobacco Harm Reduction Fellow

@KiranSidhu41

Kiran is a London-based writer and journalist, who has has written for publications including the Guardian, the Telegraph and I Paper.

Kiran’s fellowship is supported by an independently administered tobacco harm reduction scholarship from Knowledge-Action-Change—an organization that has separately provided restricted grants and donations to Filter.

 

Jonathan Kirkpatrick – Tobacco Harm Reduction Fellow

@jonmkirkpatrick

Jonathan covers harm reduction and re-entry from Washington Corrections Center, where he’s currently incarcerated. He trains peer educators in HIV and hepatitis C harm reduction, and is a Teacher’s Assistant for re-entry workshops. His writing has been published by the AppealTruthoutJewish Currents and the Seattle Journal of Social Justice.

Jonathan’s fellowship is supported by an independently administered tobacco harm reduction scholarship from Knowledge-Action-Change—an organization that has separately provided restricted grants and donations to Filter.

 

Filter was an official media partner of the 2019 Reform conference in St. Louis. Filter has also been an official partner of the Global Forum on Nicotine in Warsaw, Poland, for several years.

 

Contributors

David Abrams; Queen Adesuyi; Ben Adlin; Felipe Neis Araujo; Bolaji Akinwande; Anthony Anderson; Kenneth Anderson; Tom Angell; Chloe Ann-King; Shoshana Aronowitz 

Charlie Baker; Rob Banks; Brishti Basu; Clive Bates; Josiah Bates; Quinn Bell; Sarah Beller; Amanda Bent; Biz Berthy; Claire Bodkin; Matthew Bonn; Chelsea BoydElizabeth Brico; Tommy Brothers; Keith Brown; Nigel Brunsdon; Demetrius Buckley; Richard Burns; Marc Burrows; Mary Buser 

Canadians for Sensible Drug Policy; Gianluca Capellani; Tessie Castillo; Judy Chang; Samrat Chowdhery; Dolores Cloward; Aliza Cohen; Gregory Conley; Michael Cooper; Adryan Corcione; James Cozine; John Cross; Gabriele Cruciata

Colleen Daniels; Arthur Debruyne; Patt Denning; Kristin Doneski; Brandon A. DorfmanC Dreams; Jessie Dunleavy; Erika Dupuis

Rory Ellis; Abdul El-Sayed; Christian Eickelberg

Troy Farah; Jeselle S. Farias; Brooke Feldman; Guy Felicella; Aaron Ferguson; Seth Ferranti; Lexi Fisher; Joy Fishman; Shauna Fitzgerald; Rory Fleming; Taylor Fleming; Kevin Franciotti; David Frank; Rachel French; Zorina Frey 

Grey Gardner; Tracie Gardner; Phil Garner; Lucia Geng; Drew GibsonGiada Girelli; Gabrielle Glaser; Marewa Glover; Morgan Godvin; Ruth Goldsmith; Diane Goldstein; Mohawk Greene

Jonathan Haggerty; Ian Hamilton; Hugo Hanson; Jessica Harding; Katharine Neill Harris; Carl Hart; Jesse Harvey; Laura Haselden; Olivia Heffernan; Daliah Heller; Tracey Helton Mitchell; Victor Hernandez; Umme Hoque; DeAnna Hoskins; Ben Humphries; Kat Humphries 

Jimmy Iakovos; Meg Inwood; Sam Iravani

H.K. Jackson; Kyle Jaeger; Adi Jaffe; Shilo Jama; Reija Jean; Erving Jean-Jacques; Doug Johnson; Linwood Johnson; Beverley Jones 

Hasham Kamran; Kerwin Kaye; Jess Keefe; Arianne Keegan; Tyson Singh Kelsall; Iga Kender-Jeziorska; Bill Kinkle; Jonathan Kirkpatrick; Annie Kleykamp; Alison Knopf; Sessi Kuwabara Blanchard

Aleksey Lakhov; Michael Landl; M.L. Lanzillotta; Victoria Law; Jasmine Leigh; Antony Loewenstein; Sandy Lomonico; Kira London-Nadeau; Guido Long; Jason Lopez; Travis Lupick; Leili Lyman; Christina Lynch

Lucas Marten; Alexis Martin; Jessica Martinez; Patrick McDougall; Hannah McGowan; Michael McGrady; Ian McLooneSam Mellins; Colin Mendelsohn; Colin Miller; Ryan Mirvis; Tuyaa Montgomery; Michael J. Moore; Christopher Moraff; Daniel Moritz-Rabson; Jack Murtha; Ray Mwareya

Aruna Narayan; Rae Nieves; Brooke Nolan; Alex Norcia

Uche Olatunji; Tony O’Neill; Dinah Ortiz 

Natalie Papillion; Stanton Peele; Olivia Pennelle; Marco Perduca; Maritza Perez; David Poses; Christian Prince; Steven Proctor 

JS Rafaeli; Suchitra Rajagopalan; Trish Randall; Bruce Reilly; Zach Rhoads; Khary Rigg; Arthur Rizer; Scott Roberts; Jackie Rocheleau; Lauren Rodota; Christine Rodriguez; Ivy Ann Rosado; Marsha Rosenbaum; Simona Rosenfield; Elizabeth Ryan 

Gen Sander; Jerzy Sandino; Kevin Sawyer; Simon Schatzberg; Florian Scheibein; Thea Sebastian; André Seidenberg; Sharda Sekaran; Abdullah Shihipar; Nicholas Slayton; Kiran Sidhu; Zachary SiegelMolly Simmons; Caty Simon; April Smith; Zara Snapp; Brandon Soderberg; Aaron Stagoff-Belfort; Gerry Stimson; Dee-Dee Stout; Knina Strichartz; Lindsey StroudSree T. Sucharitha; Amy C. Sullivan; Shane Sullivan; Maia Szalavitz; 

Zac Talbott; Claudio Teixeira; Sara Tessier; Rhiannon Thomas; Michelle Tolson; Tessa Torgeson; Natasha Touesnard; Raphael Tsavkko Garcia; Ria Tsinas; Shanell Twan 

Nancy Uddin; Lizzy Unger

Sheila P. Vakharia; Jenny Valentish; Jeevika Verma; Tony Vick; Louise VincentNiko Vorobyov; Nick Voyles

Carrie Wade; Linda Wang; Art Way; Allison Wilens; Adam Winstock; Neil WoodsSheila Wren Hand

Timothy James Young

Claire Zagorski; Carlyn Zwarenstein

Erik Kubitschek; PXL Web Development Agency

Pitching guidelines and contact details

Please send all email correspondence to: Editor [at] filtermag.org.

We welcome pitches for feature-length articles around our subject areas, including investigative reports, op-eds, essays and interviews. Please send proposals (rather than drafts) and a sample of your previous work. Due to volume of pitches, we regret we cannot reply to them all; we will get back to you within a week if your idea is one we can use.

Corrections

We take our responsibilities seriously and are committed to correcting any factual errors. Please read our Corrections Policy to learn how to report an issue and what you can expect from us.

Donate to Filter

As a nonprofit publication, Filter is funded entirely by donations and grants. If you wish to support our reporting on drug use, drug policy and human rights, please donate using the button below. We’re grateful for your support.