The Log
Archive
733 stories, newest first.
May 2026
- May 22Science & Medicine
Cocaine and Methamphetamine Have Zero FDA-Approved Treatments. New FDA Guidance and Three Active Trials Are Finally Changing That.
The FDA published its first-ever draft guidance for stimulant use disorder clinical trials. With zero approved medications for cocaine or methamphetamine, this signals a historic turning point.
- May 21Treatment & Recovery
Opioid Treatment in 2026: Telehealth Won, But a New Tension Is Growing
DEA permanently extended telehealth buprenorphine prescribing in January 2026. But SAMHSA simultaneously issued guidance recommending psychosocial counseling alongside MAT — creating friction in low-threshold access programs.
- May 21Science & Medicine
The Largest Medicinal Cannabis Review Yet Finds No Benefit for Anxiety, Depression, or PTSD
The largest systematic review of medicinal cannabis finds no effective treatment of anxiety, depression, or PTSD, and raises concerns that cannabis may worsen mental health outcomes.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Cytisinicline's FDA Decision Is 30 Days Away — and It Could Be the First New Quit-Smoking Drug in Two Decades
Cytisinicline, a plant-based nicotinic partial agonist, has an FDA PDUFA date of June 20, 2026. If approved, it would be the first new smoking cessation medication in 20 years.
- May 21Technology & Innovation
Ozempic for Addiction? The Science Is Catching Up to the Headlines
GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide show 50-56% lower AUD risk in a 2024 Nature study, with VA data confirming effects across 5+ substance classes. Clinical trials now running for opioid and cocaine use disorder.
- May 21The Crisis, By the Numbers
DEA Warns: Fentanyl Now Mixed With Medetomidine and Nitazenes in Midwest Supply
The DEA's May 12 advisory and CDC's April 2 health alert document a dangerous convergence: medetomidine and nitazenes are increasingly co-occurring in illicit fentanyl, complicating overdose response.
- May 21Harm Reduction
When the Safety Net Is Cut: SAMHSA's Test Strip Ban and the Unraveling of America's Harm Reduction Infrastructure
SAMHSA's April 24 guidance banning federal funding for fentanyl test strips is dismantling harm reduction infrastructure built over a decade — precisely as medetomidine and nitazenes make the illicit supply more dangerous than ever.
- May 21Policy & Funding
The First Cannabis-Rescheduling Comment Deadline Is Tomorrow. The Decision That Matters Lands June 29.
DEA's expedited ALJ hearing on broader cannabis rescheduling begins June 29, 2026. Tomorrow (May 20) is the mailed-comment deadline. May 24 is the email deadline. Here's what the proceeding decides and why it matters for cannabis-use-disorder treatment.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Contingency Management Just Got a Hard Number: 117 Lives Saved Per 1,000 People, $6,850 a QALY
A 2026 modeling study estimates a 12-week contingency-management program prevents 117 deaths per 1,000 enrollees at $6,850 per QALY. With the federal annual incentive cap raised 10x to $750/patient in January 2025, the policy barrier is thinner than the evidence barrier was a decade ago.
- May 21Arizona Watch
Arizona Wired AI Into Its Medicaid Fraud Defenses. The Story That Got Underreported Is What It Means for Trust.
Governor Hobbs announced Alivia 360, a pre-pay AI fraud-detection system going live at AHCCCS in July 2026. Behavioral-health billing is down 92% from peak. Here's the practical implication for anyone navigating Arizona treatment — and why trust is the variable that still hasn't been repaired.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Inhalants in 2026: The Quietest Drug Story of the Year — and the One With the Most Preventable Damage
Nitrous-oxide-related deaths rose from 23 in 2010 to 156 in 2023. 2026 emergency-department case reports are catching the missing middle: people walking in with weakness and gait instability, leaving with a B12-deficiency myelopathy diagnosis. Here's what's actually happening — and how to stay safe.
- May 21Policy & Funding
SAMHSA Just Opened Its $1.5B State Opioid Response Round. The Real Question Is What Arizona Asks For.
SAMHSA's next round of State Opioid Response grants — nearly $1.5B in two-year formula funding — opened May 19, 2026. Here's what's fundable, who can apply, and the question Arizona's behavioral health leadership should be answering this week.
- May 21Policy & Funding
Two Cannabis Comment Deadlines Land This Week. Here's What They Actually Decide.
The DEA's June 29 cannabis rescheduling hearing has comment deadlines this week: May 20 (mail) and May 24 (email). The hearing decides whether all cannabis joins FDA-approved and state-medical products in Schedule III — and signals how the DEA will handle the December 2026 telemedicine-flex deadline.
- May 21Technology & Innovation
Virtual MOUD Doesn't Expand Access. That's Not a Failure — It's the Map.
Peterson Health Technology Institute assessed 16 virtual MOUD solutions. They work as well as in-person care. They do not expand access to new patients. The implication is unmistakable: the navigation gap is the unmet need, not the delivery channel.
- May 21Science & Medicine
A JAMA Study Just Tripled the Repeat-Overdose Risk Estimate. The First 30 Days After ED Discharge Are the Inflection Point.
New JAMA study of 28,500 opioid-overdose survivors: 9% died and 21% had a repeat overdose within one year. First 30 days after ED discharge are the highest-risk window. The implication for ED-to-treatment handoffs is enormous.
- May 21Treatment & Recovery
Nicotine-Tobacco in 2026: The Substance Class with the Best Tailwinds for Recovery — and the Worst Whiplash Decade
Spotlight: nicotine-tobacco in 2026. Youth vaping is at a decade low, but adult dependence patterns are tightening and a new cessation drug — cytisinicline — could land in June. What the data says, where the field disagrees, and where to find help.
- May 21Policy & Funding
The Flavored-Vape Authorization Is the Wrong Test of the FDA's New Tobacco Posture. The Right Test Is the Next Two Months.
On May 5 the FDA cleared the first fruit-flavored vapes ever. On May 11 STAT called the new enforcement guidance an industry giveaway. The real test of the FDA's tobacco posture lands June 20 — the cytisinicline PDUFA. Here's how to read the next two months.
- May 21Policy & Funding
Cannabis Schedule III: The Public-Participation Window for the June 29 DEA Hearing Closes This Week
DEA's broader cannabis rescheduling hearing starts June 29. Written notice of intent to participate is due May 20 by mail, May 24 by email, with desired-participation submissions due May 28. What is actually being decided.
- May 21Science & Medicine
JAMA Network Open: 42 Hospital-Addiction Experts Set Consensus on When and How to Start MOUD During an Admission
A 42-expert Delphi consensus in JAMA Network Open offers specific clinical guidance on rapid methadone, low- and high-dose buprenorphine, and long-acting injectables for hospital-initiated MOUD. Why it matters for treatment access in 2026.
- May 21The Crisis, By the Numbers
Federal Public-Health Alert: Fentanyl Is Now Commonly Cut with Xylazine, Medetomidine, Cychlorphine, and Nitazenes
May 13 federal advisory: fentanyl supply now commonly contains xylazine, medetomidine, cychlorphine, and nitazenes. Naloxone does not reverse two of these. What it means for harm reduction in 2026.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Where Psychedelics Stand Now: Compass at the FDA, Texas Funding Ibogaine, Kentucky Greenlights Research
Where psychedelic medicine actually stands in May 2026 — FDA priority vouchers for Compass, Usona, Transcend; first U.S. noribogaine trial; Kentucky and Texas state-level research funding. What works, what is still unproven, and what people seeking treatment should know.
- May 21Arizona Watch
When Settlement Money Stops Reaching the People It Was Meant For: What the Arizona Audit of ADCRR Tells Us
Arizona's auditor general found the Department of Corrections may have unlawfully spent over $50M of opioid settlement money. AG Mayes is considering legal action. Here is what it means for treatment access in 2026.
- May 21Technology & Innovation
The State of Digital Recovery Funding in 2026: Quiet Year, Selective Bets
2026 addiction tech funding is more selective than 2021, but still active. Pelago, Boulder Care, and Wayspring continue raising. The UK announced a £20M government fund. The lesson from Pear Therapeutics still shapes investor questions.
- May 21Harm Reduction
SAMHSA Defunded Test Strips Three Weeks Before Arizona Posted a 17% Overdose Increase. The Timing Matters.
SAMHSA's April 24 letter cut federal funding for fentanyl and xylazine test strips distributed to the public. Three weeks later, CDC data showed Arizona's overdose deaths up 17%. Test strips do not cause overdose declines on their own, but they do change the math.