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.

    SAMHSA’s National Drug Use Survey Has a Fentanyl Problem

    Up through 2021, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) national drug ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano

    China to Target Fentanyl Precursors, Deepening the Synthetic Drug War

    China has reportedly agreed to crack down on companies that manufacture and export fentanyl ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano

    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) ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano

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

    Every year, the Drug Enforcement Administration gets a few more allies in its bid ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano

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

    Media coverage of fentanyl is beyond a quick fix, but I think this one ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano

    Smoking, Not Injecting, Now Linked to Two-Thirds of BC Overdose Deaths

    Amid a mass exodus from injecting drugs to smoking them, the push for safe ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano

    OTC Narcan Arrives at Pharmacies, a Stepping Stone to Broader Access

    The first week of September has seen major pharmacy chains across the United States ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano

    CDC: Counterfeit Pill Overdose Deaths More Than Doubled During Pandemic

    A September 1 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano

    Vyvanse, “Abuse-Deterrent” Stimulant, Goes Generic in ADHD Med Shortage

    The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first generic versions of Vyvanse, the ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano

    Which Meth Users Is Contingency Management Supposed to Be For?

    California’s contingency management (CM) program is slowly getting off the ground, following the Medi-Cal ...

    author_avatar
    Kastalia Medrano