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.

    FCC Proposes Revised, Higher Price Caps for Prison and Jail Phone Calls

    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed a revision of its historic regulations lowering ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    New “Fentanyl Poisonings” Act Would Target Social Media Sales, Again

    In late September, Representatives Adam Gray (D-CA) and Gabe Evans (R-CO) introduced the “Combatting ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Opvee, High-Profile Overdose Antidote No One Used, Discontinues Marketing

    Indivior PLC has discontinued marketing for Opvee, the opioid-overdose reversal product that the pharmaceutical ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    WI May Expand “Good Samaritan” Law to 911 Calls for Sexual Assault

    Wisconsin is considering a proposal to offer legal immunity from certain controlled substance charges ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Landmark Deals Drop New Injectable PrEP From $28,000 to $40—for Some

    Lenacapavir, the new long-acting HIV prevention medication that hit the United States market with ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    SAMHSA Awards Opioid Response Grants Amid New “Strategic Priorities”

    On September 22, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced the ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Battle Over Prison Phone Call Costs Heads to Court, FCC Teases New Vote

    The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is preparing for an October vote that the agency ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    DEA Bans More Fentanyl Analogs, Months After Class-Wide Scheduling

    On September 18, the Drug Enforcement Administration permanently added seven fentanyl-related substances (FRS) to ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    7-OH Did Not Cause the LA Overdose Deaths (Neither Did Kratom)

    On September 12, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) announced that ...

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    Kastalia Medrano

    Corrections Departments Winning Imaginary Fight Against “K2 Exposure”

    In 2021, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department published body-cam footage of a deputy ...

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    Kastalia Medrano