Kastalia Medrano

Kastalia is Filter‘s deputy editor. She previously worked at half a dozen mainstream digital media outlets and does not recommend the drug war 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.

Federal Bill Would Add SUD Category to Dislocated Worker Grant Eligibility

Pennsylvania senators have introduced a bipartisan federal bill aimed at the economic harms of substance use disorder (SUD), while remaining…

August 6, 2026

Three Lifers on Why Prisons Need Re-Entry Support for the Prisoners Who Aren’t Coming Home

One of the most commonly cited statistics in corrections department promotional materials is the one about how 95 percent of…

August 5, 2026

SAMHSA Reframes National Drug Use Survey, Leaves Fentanyl Problem Intact

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released the latest edition of its National Survey on Drug…

August 4, 2026

No One’s Really Expecting the “Fentanyl Dealers Act” to Make Sense

GOP representatives have introduced legislation that would amend the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) by drastically lowering the number of…

July 30, 2026

White House Shares First Data From Wastewater Drug-Testing Project

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has published its first report on wastewater-based drug testing, something that wasn’t…

July 22, 2026

Overdose Data Show Two Paths Within Western Corridor of Rising Deaths

The most recent monthly provisional overdose death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the rate of…

July 20, 2026

FDA Schedules Psychedelics Hearing, Amid New Push for Medical Approval

The Food and Drug Administration has unveiled multiple actions supporting President Donald Trump’s executive order fast-tracking access to psychedelic therapies…

July 15, 2026

WA Begins Albertsons Opioid Trial, for Pharmacy’s Role in “Public Nuisance”

Four years after Washington state sued Albertsons Companies, Inc. alleging that the grocery chain’s opioid dispensing “created a public health…

July 14, 2026

White House Releases Long-Overdue Federal Rulemaking Agenda

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has finally released the Trump administration's overdue Unified Agenda of Regulatory and…

July 13, 2026

DEA Proposes Schedule I Ban for the First “Gas Station Drug,” Tianeptine

On July 8, the Drug Enforcement Administration moved to permanently ban tianeptine under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act…

July 8, 2026