The Log
Archive
873 stories, newest first.
November 2026
- Nov 3The Crisis, By the Numbers
Minnesota's Opioid Deaths Fell Again. The Stimulant Deaths Don't Have an Antidote Waiting.
Minnesota's 2025 data shows opioid deaths falling for a third year while stimulant overdoses climb. Naloxone does nothing for meth or cocaine. Here is what does.
- Nov 1Science & Medicine
Psilocybin Lowered Inflammation Markers in Parkinson's Patients. Don't Let Anyone Tell You What That Proves.
A JAMA Psychiatry study reports lower inflammation markers in people with Parkinson's disease after psilocybin. It was small and had no control group. What it can and cannot tell clinicians.
- Nov 1Lived Experience & Community
Nearly Half of Recreational Cannabis Users Trust the Person at the Counter First. Four Percent Pick a Doctor.
A federally funded survey of 1,023 adults who used THC found dispensary staff the most trusted information source, ahead of friends and healthcare providers. What it means for clinicians.
- Nov 1Policy & Funding
The DEA Just Registered 900 Dispensaries. Nobody Registered a Plan for the Patient.
DOJ announced federal DEA registration for 900+ medical cannabis dispensaries in seven states, while refusing a Minnesota dual-licensed shop. What the implementation gates mean for providers.
- Nov 1Science & Medicine
Doubling the THC Doesn't Double the High. So Why Is Everyone Selling It That Way?
A meta-analysis of 41 THC experiments finds that doubling the dose from 5 to 10 mg raised the self-reported high by about 15 percent and left anxiety unchanged. What it means for people who use, and for providers.
October 2026
- Oct 31Treatment & Recovery
California Is Spending $21 Million to Meet People Where They Are. Its Own Numbers Show Who's Hardest to Reach.
California awarded $21M+ in SOR IV funds to 112 community organizations on Oct 30. Its own data shows opioid treatment outnumbering stimulant treatment about four to one.
- Oct 31The Crisis, By the Numbers
HHS Says Opioid Deaths Are at a Decade Low. The Number It Led With Isn't an Opioid Number.
HHS says opioid deaths are at their lowest in nearly a decade, but the headline figure is an all-cause death rate. Minnesota's new data shows where the deaths are moving.
- Oct 29Policy & Funding
Marijuana Arrests Rose for the First Time in a Decade, and Almost All of the Increase Was Black
FWD.us reports cannabis possession arrests rose in 2025 for the first time in at least a decade. What the 83% and 45% figures actually measure, and what case managers and treatment intake teams can do with a pending charge.
- Oct 29Science & Medicine
Two Postdocs Are Telling the DEA That Schedule I Is Not a Place to Park Uncertainty
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, two early-career scientists and MindState Design Labs asked the DEA for a hearing on placing five tryptamines in Schedule I. What the proposal covers, what it doesn't, and who it could hit first.
- Oct 29Lived Experience & Community
"Being Sober Is Payment Enough." Why a Gift Card Works on Meth Anyway
A woman in a Maine rewards program said sobriety was payment enough. Why contingency management still works for meth and cocaine, what stimulant craving and flat, joyless weeks feel like, and what the evidence does and does not prove.
- Oct 29The Crisis, By the Numbers
The Overdose Decline Has a Hole in It, and Meth Is Standing in It
Minnesota's 2025 overdose deaths rose 3% while opioid deaths held flat and stimulant deaths climbed. Kentucky's meth deaths fell and meth still became the most common drug found. What providers and people who use can do this week.
- Oct 25The Crisis, By the Numbers
Overdose Deaths Nearly Halved, and We Still Can't Count the People Who Know Why
A STAT op-ed by three overdose researchers argues the national drug survey misses people experiencing homelessness and incarceration and says almost nothing about drug prices or contents.
- Oct 25Harm Reduction
San Francisco's First MGM-15 Death Puts a Gas-Station Opioid on the Record
San Francisco recorded its first fatal overdose tied to MGM-15, a kratom-derived opioid sold in convenience stores. Naloxone is the guidance. The bigger problem is what the label says.
- Oct 25Policy & Funding
The FDA Says Zyn Is Safer Than a Cigarette. It Left the Hard Part Off the Label.
The FDA's June 2026 modified-risk order lets 20 Zyn pouches claim lower disease risk than cigarettes. It says nothing about dependence, quitting, or the teenagers using the brand most.
- Oct 25The Crisis, By the Numbers
Nobody Can Say Why You Stopped Dying. Until They Can, Don't Bet on It Lasting.
A JAMA analysis of 2.5 million EMS overdose responses finds naloxone use did not rise as deaths fell. The likeliest cause, a weaker fentanyl supply, can reverse. Here is what that means this week.
- Oct 23Policy & Funding
FDA Wants to Know How to Test Ibogaine on Humans. You Have Until Nov. 20 to Tell It.
FDA's Oct. 5 request for information on ibogaine trial design closes Nov. 20 (docket FDA-2026-N-10429). Here is what it asks and who should comment.
- Oct 23Lived Experience & Community
She Used Meth Daily for Three Years and Says It Helped. Harm Reduction Never Built Anything for Her.
Filter's Kastalia Medrano writes from inside daily meth use about coping, stigma, and why purity-based federal sentencing punishes people for how clean the supply is.
- Oct 23Technology & Innovation
Telehealth Is Selling GLP-1s for Addiction Before the FDA Has Said Whether They Work
Online addiction clinics are prescribing GLP-1 drugs off-label for alcohol use disorder ahead of FDA approval. What the early trial data show and what to ask before you start.
- Oct 23Science & Medicine
Ketamine Is Still a Medicine. A Manchester Detox Ward Shows What Happens When It Stops Being One.
A UK detox unit's 59 ketamine admissions and the ACMD's 2026 review show what dependence looks like when ketamine leaves the clinic. What US providers and people using it should know.
- Oct 22The Crisis, By the Numbers
Overdose Deaths Fell 12.3%. The Numbers Came From the Same Office That Wants Credit.
CDC provisional data show 67,798 overdose deaths in the 12 months ending March 2026, down 12.3%. HHS officials claim credit as a SAMHSA nominee awaits confirmation.
- Oct 22Policy & Funding
The Hemp Ban's Real Number Is 0.4 Milligrams Per Container, and Nobody Has Defined 'Container'
The federal hemp THC cap is 0.4 mg total THC per container. The FDA has not finished defining a container, and the effective date is December 11.
- Oct 22Treatment & Recovery
The Hemp THC Ban Is Fifty Days Out. Nobody Wrote a Plan for the People Who Wake Up Sick.
A federal hemp THC ban takes effect December 11. Cannabis withdrawal peaks around days 2 to 6. Here is what providers and people who use daily should plan for.
- Oct 21Lived Experience & Community
Seven in Ten People With a Substance Problem Say They're in Recovery. The Ones Who Don't Are Carrying More Shame.
A 2026 Stigma and Health study of 5,260 adults finds people who identify as in recovery use more support groups and cite far less stigma as a barrier to treatment.
- Oct 21Arizona Watch
Arizona Is Suing the Opioid Middlemen. Its Own Prisons Spent $50.9 Million of the Last Settlement on Something Else.
Arizona sued Express Scripts and Optum over opioid prescribing. Meanwhile an audit says $50.9M of settlement money went to prison hepatitis C care. Where Arizona's opioid money should go.