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 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.

    DHS Doesn’t Collect Mandatory Data on Efficacy of Fentanyl Seizures

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) never created a mandatory data collection program to ...

    Just a Reminder That Drug Users Aren’t Zombies

    The White House is promoting a new fentanyl awareness ad campaign. “Make America Fentanyl ...

    “Fentanyl Kills Act” Would Prosecute All Distribution as Attempted Murder

    Lawmakers have introduced legislation that would allow federal prosecutors to pursue attempted murder charges ...

    Trump Begins Deploying US Military to Fight the Drug War

    On August 19, United States warships set course for Venezuela. They’ve been deployed there ...

    “An Architect of the Crisis”: WV Sues Express Scripts Over Rx Opioids

    West Virginia Attorney General J.B. McCuskey (R) has filed a lawsuit against Express Scripts ...

    FDA Requires All Rx Opioid Labeling Warn About Risks of Long-Term Use

    The Food and Drug Administration is overhauling the safety labeling requirements for opioid analgesics, ...

    FDA Marks 7-OH, Kratom Compound With Opioid Effect, for CSA Schedule I

    The Food and Drug Administration is recommending that 7-hydroxymitragynine, commonly referred to as 7-OH, ...

    SAMHSA’s National Drug Use Survey Continues to Be Weird About Fentanyl

    The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released the 2024 edition ...

    NY Makes Prison Phone Calls Free, Via Direct Negotiations With Securus

    Beginning August 1, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) ...