Kastalia Medrano

    Kastalia is Filter‘s deputy editor. She previously worked at half a dozen mainstream digital media outlets and would not recommend the drug coverage at any of them. For a while she was a syringe program peer worker in NYC, where she did outreach hep C testing and navigated participants through treatment. She also writes with Jon Kirkpatrick.

    Overdose Prevention Center Bills in Multiple States Inch Forward

    The 2025 legislative session has seen multiple states attempt to authorize overdose prevention centers ...

    Hawaii Legislature Overturns “One-to-One” Restriction on Syringe Exchange

    Hawaii has passed legislation authorizing syringe service programs (SSP) to begin distribution as needed, ...

    Walgreens Settles DOJ Prescription Opioid Lawsuit, Likely at $350 Million

    Walgreens, the nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain, will pay $300 million plus 4 percent interest ...

    Vermont Prison Equity Bill: Free Calls, Paid Labor, Affordable Commissary

    Vermont legislators are reviewing a wide-ranging prison equity bill that, if enacted, would make ...

    Some Common Themes in the State Fentanyl Bills Still in Play

    The current legislative session has seen dozens of proposals to create or enhance criminal ...

    HALT Fentanyl Act Clears Senate, Poised to Become Law

    On March 14, the Senate passed legislation that would permanently ban fentanyl-related substances (FRS) ...

    Federal Drug Trafficking Data Show Who Gets Prosecuted for Overdose

    Data from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) show that under 7 percent of ...

    Colorimetric Drug Tests Are Making Mass Incarceration More Miserable

    Colorado legislators have proposed a working group to study the use of colorimetric drug ...

    CDC: Overdose Deaths Now Down 24 Percent, Back to Pre-Pandemic Crisis

    An estimated 86,882 people in the United States died of overdose between October 2023 ...