The Log
Archive
261 stories, newest first.
June 2026
- Jun 12Daily Pulse
Trump's Psychedelic Fast-Track Is Real. What It Does — and Doesn't — Mean for Patients.
On April 18, the Trump administration issued an executive order directing the FDA to accelerate its review of Schedule I psychedelics for mental health applications. The order incl
- Jun 12Daily Pulse
The FDA Let Flavored Vapes Back In. Its Own Enforcement Staff Didn't See It Coming.
On May 22, the FDA authorized four flavored e-cigarettes for sale in the United States and issued guidance allowing flavored nicotine pouches to remain on store shelves while under
- Jun 11Treatment & Recovery
Gift Cards, Urinalysis, and the Only Proven Tool for Meth: Why Contingency Management Is Finally Getting Its Due
Contingency management for stimulant use disorder is gaining clinical momentum but facing political headwinds. California's program must prove its value by year-end. Here's what the evidence actually shows.
- Jun 11Policy & Funding
The Medicaid Work Requirements Start in 2028. For People in Active Treatment, the Clock Is Already Running.
Medicaid work requirements in the One Big Beautiful Bill take effect October 2028. For people in active SUD treatment, the documentation burden may end coverage before they finish.
- Jun 11Arizona Watch
Arizona's New SUD Data: 37,000 on Medication, 73% of Overdoses Reversed — and Still 49th in Access
Arizona's AHCCCS SFY2025 SUD report: 37,685 MAT users, 73% overdose reversal rate, peer housing homes doubled — but the state still ranks 49th for behavioral health access.
- Jun 11Science & Medicine
The Drug Killing More Americans Every Year Has No Approved Medication. The One Thing That Works Is Funded in Five States.
Stimulant use disorder has no FDA-approved medication. Contingency management is the only proven behavioral treatment. Only 5 states cover it under Medicaid. This is the treatment crisis nobody is talking about.
- Jun 11Research Roundup
No Safe Level: What the Suppressed Federal Alcohol Study Actually Found
The government-commissioned alcohol study, published June 9 in JSAD, found no safe level of drinking. Here is what it actually showed — and what the methodology means for clinical practice.
- Jun 11Policy & Funding
Washington Buried the Science on Alcohol. Now Congress Is Making It Permanent.
A government-commissioned study found no safe level of alcohol. Washington suppressed it. This week, Congress voted to ban the research program that produced it — permanently.
- Jun 10Science & Medicine
COMPASS Pathways Is Filing an NDA for Psilocybin. The FDA Priority Vouchers Were the Signal.
COMPASS Pathways has two positive Phase 3 trials for COMP360 psilocybin. Rolling NDA Q4 2026. FDA National Priority Voucher shortens review to ~6 months. What it means for addiction treatment — and why delivery infrastructure is the real problem.
- Jun 10Lived Experience & Community
Buprenorphine Is Now a Foster Care Prevention Tool. That's Worth Sitting With.
ACF's February 2026 Title IV-E expansion now covers 50% federal match for MOUD when parents are at imminent foster care risk. 53,000 children entered care in 2024 due to parental drug use.
- Jun 10Treatment & Recovery
The First New Quit-Smoking Drug in Two Decades Is Ten Days from an FDA Decision
The FDA has until June 20 to approve cytisinicline, a plant-derived alkaloid from the laburnum tree with 60 years of European use. Two Phase 3 trials. The first potential new quit-smoking drug since Chantix in 2006.
- Jun 10Science & Medicine
Ozempic for Addiction: What the VA's 600,000-Person Study Actually Found
A June 2026 BMJ study of 600,000+ VA veterans found GLP-1 drugs cut overdose rates 39% and drug-related deaths 50%. The finding is observational — but it's the largest real-world addiction signal from these drugs yet.
- Jun 10The Crisis, By the Numbers
The Numbers Are Good. The Explanation Is Contested.
CDC data projects 69,973 overdose deaths for 2025. Researchers are split between fentanyl supply disruption from China and harm reduction expansion as the primary driver. The answer determines what we protect and what we can afford to cut.
- Jun 10Harm Reduction
The Strips That Won't Be Replaced
SAMHSA's April 24 Dear Colleague letter banned federal funding for fentanyl test strips. Columbus, Ohio is burning through its last inventory. Arizona's harm reduction programs are next — and the state's opioid settlement dollars weren't designed to fill a federal hole.
- Jun 9Harm Reduction
After Fentanyl: The DEA Just Scheduled Another Ketamine Analog. Here’s What’s Already Replacing It.
DEA temporarily scheduled 2-fluorodeschloroketamine on May 22, 2026. 34 nitazene analogues in 37 countries. Medetomidine in opioid supplies. No consumer test strips for any of these compounds.
- Jun 9Science & Medicine
The Brain on Meth: New Research Maps How Craving Hijacks Attention Before You Know It’s Happening
New 2026 research: methamphetamine attentional bias is pre-conscious, preceding reported craving. Two craving subtypes require different interventions. The science of relapse is more specific than most treatment plans reflect.
- Jun 9Arizona Watch
143,997 Arizonans Got SUD Treatment Last Year. The Number That Worries Us Is the One Not in the Report.
AHCCCS SFY2025: 143,997 members in SUD treatment, $582M spent, 62.2% in Central GSA. Progress — against a backdrop where Arizona ranks 49th for behavioral health access.
- Jun 9Harm Reduction
What Happens When You Give People With Severe AUD Their Daily Drinks
Two 2026 peer-reviewed studies — Halifax and Calgary — show managed alcohol programs produce measurable harm reduction: 25% fewer acute harms, 9% fewer seizures.
- Jun 9Science & Medicine
Cocaine Killed 30,000 Americans Last Year. Scientists Just Found the Brain Switch Behind Relapse — and It Isn’t Willpower.
A 2026 MSU study identifies DeltaFosB as the molecular engine of cocaine-induced compulsive relapse — the first precise molecular target in the relevant neural pathway. Cocaine kills ~30,000 Americans annually with zero FDA-approved medications.
- Jun 8Treatment & Recovery
The High That Was Already in the Cupboard
Inhalant use disorder kills by cardiac arrest on first use and slowly by neurological damage over years. It's undertreated, under-studied, and missing from most recovery conversations. It shouldn't be.
- Jun 8Science & Medicine
The FDA Just Cleared the First Human Trial of Kratom as an OUD Treatment
NIH cleared an IND for mitragynine to study kratom as an OUD treatment. A milestone — that arrives alongside a 1,200% increase in kratom-related poison center calls.
- Jun 8Policy & Funding
The FDA Just Authorized Mango and Blueberry Vapes. Sen. Durbin Called It a Gift to Big Tobacco.
The FDA authorized fruit-flavored e-cigarettes in May 2026 while withdrawing a menthol ban proposal. The policy tension: adult smoking cessation tool vs. adolescent nicotine recruitment vector.
- Jun 8Harm Reduction
Cychlorphine Is in the Supply and Your Test Strips Won't Catch It
Cychlorphine — up to 10x stronger than fentanyl — does not appear on standard fentanyl test strips. The White House issued its first-ever Drug Threat Notice. Here's what harm reduction workers need to know.
- Jun 8Science & Medicine
Ozempic Cut Alcohol Consumption by 70 Percent in the First Rigorous Clinical Trial
The first randomized controlled trial of semaglutide for alcohol use disorder found a 70% reduction in drinking over 26 weeks. What the data shows, where it falls short, and why clinicians are already acting on it.