The Log
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261 stories, newest first.
May 2026
- May 23Science & Medicine
San Francisco Launches First Human Trial of Semaglutide for Methamphetamine Use Disorder
San Francisco's Department of Public Health is running the first human clinical trial of semaglutide for methamphetamine addiction. There are currently zero FDA-approved medications for meth use disorder.
- May 23Policy & Funding
FDA Moves to Schedule Kratom's Most Potent Compound as Opioid Risk Concerns Grow
The FDA is recommending DEA add 7-OH, kratom's most opioid-active alkaloid, to Schedule I. California removed 3,300+ products. What this means for people using kratom in recovery.
- May 23Science & Medicine
Compass Pathways Eyes Q4 FDA Filing After Two Positive Phase 3 Trials for Psilocybin in Treatment-Resistant Depression
Compass Pathways is filing its psilocybin NDA in Q4 2026 after two positive Phase 3 trials in treatment-resistant depression. FDA has awarded a Priority Voucher. What this means for addiction treatment.
- May 23Harm Reduction
The Harm Reduction Rollback: How SAMHSA's New Directives Are Cutting Off Xylazine Wound Care
SAMHSA's April 2026 ban on federal funding for xylazine test strips and wound care supplies leaves communities without tools to manage xylazine's distinctive, treatment-resistant injuries. Here's what changed and why it matters.
- May 22Treatment & Recovery
Stimulants 2026: Why Cocaine and Meth Deaths Keep Rising While Opioid Deaths Fall — and What Treatment Looks Like Without a Medication
Stimulant use disorder affects millions and lacks FDA-approved pharmacotherapy. This 2026 spotlight covers the treatment gap, contingency management, and an emerging drug pipeline.
- May 22Research Roundup
CDC 2025 Overdose Data: 69,973 Deaths, Down 14% — The Numbers Behind the Headline and the Outliers That Demand Attention
CDC NCHS released 2025 provisional overdose death counts on May 13: 69,973 deaths, down 13.9% — the biggest single-year decline in the modern crisis era. But state-level variation tells a more complicated story.
- May 22Daily Pulse
SAMHSA $1.5B State Opioid Response Program Is Being Absorbed Into a Block Grant. Here Is What States Stand to Lose.
The FY2026 SAMHSA budget proposes folding the $1.5B State Opioid Response grant into a new block grant with 15% less total funding. State addiction programs built around SOR flexibility are at risk.
- May 22Daily Pulse
Arizona Drug Deaths Rose 17% in 2025 While the Rest of America Improved
CDC provisional data released May 13 shows Arizona drug deaths rose 17.31% in 2025 — a stark outlier as national deaths fell 14% to the lowest level since 2019.
- 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.