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.

    Twenty States Sue Trump Admin Over Cuts to Housing-First Grants

    A coalition of state attorneys general is suing the Department of Housing and Urban ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    SAMHSA Brings Back State-Level Reports on Drug Use, Mental Health

    On November 24, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published reports ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    PA Clears Jails to Use Unspent Vivitrol Funds on Methadone and Suboxone

    Pennsylvania is expanding access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) for people in ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    New Hampshire Circles Closer to Fentanyl Mandatory Minimums

    New Hampshire lawmakers are proposing mandatory minimums for fentanyl convictions, including one for distribution resulting in ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Harm Reduction Outreach Needs to Get Comfortable With Booty-Bumping

    A few years back I had an outreach-based job doing hepatitis C testing and ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Now the FDA Wants Nalmefene to Be a Fentanyl-Exposure “Prophylactic”

    The Food and Drug Administration is reportedly providing guidance and “positive feedback” for a ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Are We Sure We’re Using Fentanyl Test Strips the Right Way?

    Every couple of weeks a local media outlet does some coverage of fentanyl test ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Piece by Piece, FCC Dismantles Its Prison and Jail Phone Call Price Caps

    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has released the finalized version of its order regulating ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Feds Take Small Steps Away From Life Sentences for Street-Level Drug Selling

    New amendments to federal sentencing guidelines will put less of an emphasis on the ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Michigan Will Again Try to Legalize Its Rising Number of Syringe Programs

    Michigan, where syringe service programs (SSP) have been rapidly expanding yet operate in a ...

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    Kastalia Medrano