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 (OPC). Some proposals didn't have the…

May 13, 2025

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

Hawaii has passed legislation authorizing syringe service programs (SSP) to begin distribution as needed, in place of the current model…

May 5, 2025

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 to settle Department of Justice allegations…

April 22, 2025

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 the Vermont Department of Corrections (VDOC)…

April 21, 2025

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 penalties for fentanyl-related charges, many of…

March 31, 2025

Utah Quietly Bans State Funds for SSP, in Bill Restricting Pre-Trial Release

On March 25, Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) signed a wide-ranging bill purportedly focused on the state's criminal-legal statutes, but…

March 26, 2025

HALT Fentanyl Act Clears Senate, Poised to Become Law

On March 14, the Senate passed legislation that would permanently ban fentanyl-related substances (FRS) under Schedule I of the Controlled…

March 17, 2025

Federal Drug Trafficking Data Show Who Gets Prosecuted for Overdose

Data from the United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) show that under 7 percent of people convicted in recent federal overdose…

March 10, 2025

Colorimetric Drug Tests Are Making Mass Incarceration More Miserable

Colorado legislators have proposed a working group to study the use of colorimetric drug tests within the criminal-legal system, and…

March 5, 2025

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 and September 2024, according to provisional…

February 26, 2025