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May 2026
- 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.
- May 21Policy & Funding
The Cannabis Schedule III Comment Window Closes May 20. Here's What Actually Just Happened.
The DOJ partially rescheduled cannabis to Schedule III on April 23. The broader hearing is June 29. Notices of intent to participate are due May 20 (mail) or May 24 (email).
- May 21Treatment & Recovery
Dissociatives in 2026: Texas Is About to Reshape Ketamine Care — and Other States Are Watching
Texas's proposed ban on in-home ketamine, slated for a June vote, would require a physician physically present at every treatment. Here is the state of dissociative therapy in 2026 — what's regulated, what's not, and where the field is headed.
- May 21Arizona Watch
Arizona Is Going the Wrong Way: Why Our State's Overdose Deaths Climbed 17% While the Rest of America's Fell
CDC's May 13 provisional data shows overdose deaths down 13.9% nationally — but Arizona is up 17.31%, New Mexico 21.30%, and Colorado 10%+. Here is what we know about why, and what it means for people seeking treatment.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Depressants in 2026: The Drug Class Without a Modern Playbook
Depressants — benzodiazepines, Z-drugs, kratom alkaloids — are aging into a treatment system designed for opioids. Here's what the 2025–2026 clinical guidelines actually say.
- May 21Treatment & Recovery
Contingency Management Is the Only Treatment for Stimulants That Actually Works. Only Five States Cover It.
Contingency management is the most evidence-based intervention for stimulant use disorder. Only 5 states have CMS-approved Medicaid CM programs. Here's where Arizona stands.
- May 21Harm Reduction
Galaxy Gas Litigation Is Maturing. The Inhalant Regulatory Vacuum Isn't Closing.
The FDA's nitrous oxide warning expanded last June. Class action and wrongful death lawsuits are maturing. The federal regulatory gap on recreational inhalants remains wide.
- May 21Policy & Funding
Ketamine's Regulatory Vacuum Is Now an Enforcement Story
Federal regulation covers Spravato. Off-label ketamine is increasingly shaped by state medical boards and enforcement actions rather than rules — and the DEA's telemedicine flex sunsets December 2026.
- May 21Arizona Watch
Arizona's Missing Beds: What the AHCCCS Secure Behavioral Health RFP Means for Recovery Navigation
AHCCCS released a Request for Proposals on May 12 to develop Secure Behavioral Health Residential Facilities. Open until January 2027. Here's what it means for Arizonans navigating treatment — and the operators who will run them.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Cannabinoids in 2026: Policy Is Sprinting. The Evidence Is Walking.
In 2026, federal cannabis policy moved faster than cannabis science. A Schedule III rescheduling order, a 57-trial network meta-analysis of CUD treatments, and zero FDA-approved CUD medications describe the actual state of play.
- May 21Policy & Funding
Psychedelics' Political Tailwind, Translated
Trump's psychedelic executive order, Compass Pathways' planned summer NDA submission, and Lykos' 75% workforce reduction together describe a field reorganizing around what the FDA is actually willing to approve in 2026.
- May 21Harm Reduction
DEA Says the Drug Supply Has Outpaced Naloxone Again — This Time It's Cychlorphine
On May 12, 2026, the DEA's Detroit Field Division issued a public safety advisory naming xylazine, medetomidine, nitazenes, and cychlorphine as the four substances now routinely cut into the illicit drug supply — and warned that traditional overdose reversal may not be enough.
- May 21Science & Medicine
The First New Smoking Cessation Drug in 20 Years Reaches Its FDA Decision Date in Five Weeks
Achieve Life Sciences' cytisinicline reaches its June 20, 2026 PDUFA target action date — the first new smoking cessation medicine in 20 years. A separate FDA Commissioner's Priority Voucher targets the same molecule at vaping cessation.
- May 21The Crisis, By the Numbers
The Day America Got Better and Arizona Got Worse: Reading the 2025 Overdose Data
On May 13, 2026, the CDC reported the third consecutive year of overdose declines — 69,973 deaths, down 14%. Arizona moved the opposite direction. The same day, a state audit raised questions about how $50.9M of settlement money was spent.
- May 21Treatment & Recovery
Spotlight: Cannabis Use Disorder Treatment in 2026 — What the Evidence Actually Says
Cannabis Use Disorder affects ~1 in 3 regular adult users. No FDA pharmacotherapy exists. The 2026 evidence for MET-CBT, contingency management, and DBT/ACT — and where the field disagrees.
- May 21Harm Reduction
DEA Advisory: Fentanyl Mixtures Are Outpacing Naloxone
The DEA's May 12 public safety advisory warns that synthetic adulterants are limiting naloxone's effectiveness. What it means for harm reduction in 2026.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Lancet: Weekly Semaglutide Cuts Heavy Drinking Days 41% in AUD Trial
A May 2 Lancet RCT (n=108) shows once-weekly semaglutide plus CBT reduced heavy drinking days by 41.1% in adults with AUD and obesity — NNT 4.3.