Kastalia Medrano

White House Issues Very Soft Call for Prisoner Access to OUD Meds

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) released its first press release of 2024, promoting a January…

January 31, 2024

The DEA Made a “Fentanyl Facts” Quiz. Let’s See How They Did.

One of the weirder things to come out of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) "One Pill Can Kill" fentanyl awareness…

January 29, 2024

More K-12 Schools Receiving Narcan, If Not the Best Education About It

As of January 6, all New York City public schools are required to carry naloxone. This was already a requirement…

January 23, 2024

Stimulant Treatment Research Finally Uses Outcome Besides Abstinence

To whatever degree harm reduction has gotten mainstreamed, it still hasn't budged the meaning of “treatment” and how we measure…

January 10, 2024

The FDA Draft Guidance for Stimulant Use Disorder Medication Is… Decent

One of the reasons we have Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for opioid use disorder (OUD) is that opioids are…

November 28, 2023

SAMHSA’s National Drug Use Survey Has a Fentanyl Problem

Up through 2021, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) national drug use survey didn't include illicit fentanyl.…

November 16, 2023

China to Target Fentanyl Precursors, Deepening the Synthetic Drug War

China has reportedly agreed to crack down on companies that manufacture and export fentanyl precursors, a key deliverable for President…

November 14, 2023

DEA Targets Precursors, Pill Presses in Fentanyl Supply Chain Crackdown

In the aftermath of the temporary class-wide fentanyl ban the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ordered in 2018, a lot of…

November 7, 2023

It’s Fentanyl Misinformation Season. Please Consume Media Responsibly.

Every year, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) gets a few more allies in its bid to turn October into National…

October 30, 2023

One Weird Trick Reporters Can Use to Make Fentanyl Stories Less Bad

Media coverage of fentanyl is beyond a quick fix, but I still think this one would improve it. Journalists often…

October 24, 2023