opioids

State Bills to Regulate Kratom Advance, Alongside Ones to Ban It

Nine months after Rhode Island passed a law regulating the sale of kratom, the partial opioid agonist that has divided…

April 10, 2026

Primary Care “Opioid Risk Scores” Poorly Predict Individual OD Risk

In 2019, Epic—the company behind the MyChart health care software used by over 190 million patients—developed an exciting new feature:…

March 26, 2026

No, Synthetic Opioid Cychlorphine Has Not Proved Narcan “Ineffective”

A minor media frenzy has been forming around cychlorphine, a novel synthetic opioid described as the "next killer drug" taking…

March 5, 2026

Grassroots Harm Reduction Sidelined in NY Opioid Fund Spending

“He was awesome,” Alexis Pleus, executive director of Truth Pharm, a small harm reduction organization based in Binghamton, New York,…

November 13, 2025

Poppy Growing Shifts to Pakistan After Taliban’s Crackdown in Afghanistan

Afghanistan used to have the distinction of producing the opium for 95 per cent of the heroin on the European…

September 30, 2025

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 7-Hydroxymitragynine had been linked to three…

September 17, 2025

“Mother of Methadone”—Trailblazing and Stigma in Addiction Medicine

With Dr. Melody Glenn’s new book—Mother of Methadone: A Doctor’s Quest, A Forgotten History, And A Modern-Day Crisis—Dr. Marie Nyswander…

August 26, 2025

“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 as a “bad actor” in the…

August 19, 2025

Baltimore Accepts Offer for Fraction of the Opioid Settlement It Sought

The city of Baltimore has opted to take a court deal that will leave it with just a fraction of…

August 18, 2025

Judge Offers Baltimore $100 million for OD Crisis—Far Less Than City Sought

A judge has offered Baltimore $100 million for opioid abatement efforts in a landmark case—but only if it accepts a…

August 11, 2025