The Log
Archive
261 stories, newest first.
May 2026
- May 21Policy & Funding
Federal Cannabis Rescheduling: What the June 29 DEA Hearing Means
DEA rescheduling proceedings for cannabis advance with a June 29, 2026 hearing. What the order does — and what it doesn't change for adult-use marijuana.
- May 21The Crisis, By the Numbers
America's Overdose Decline Is Real. Arizona Is the Exception.
CDC's May 13 NVSS data shows U.S. drug overdose deaths fell 13.9% in 2025 — the third straight annual decline. Arizona rose 17.3%. What that gap means for treatment access.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Inhalants Spotlight: The B12 Story Behind the Spinal Cord Damage — and Why Catching It Early Matters
Nitrous oxide depletes B12 and can cause spinal cord damage — a 2026 Irish imaging study and Yale clinical work agree the effects are reversible only if caught early.
- May 21Science & Medicine
A Johns Hopkins Study Sharpens the Link Between Youth Cannabis Use Disorder and Psychiatric Diagnoses
A new Johns Hopkins study links youth cannabis use disorder to later psychiatric diagnoses, and a 45-year evidence review finds cannabis ineffective for anxiety, depression, or PTSD.
- May 21Policy & Funding
FDA Authorizes Mango and Blueberry Vapes for the First Time
On May 7 the FDA authorized Glas Inc. mango and blueberry vape pods — the first fruit-flavored ENDS authorizations in agency history. The decision relies on access-restriction technology, not flavor itself.
- May 21The Crisis, By the Numbers
Medetomidine Is Now in More Than a Third of Philadelphia's Opioid Samples
Medetomidine appeared in 37% of Philadelphia opioid samples by October 2025 — up from 4% the prior May. A 17% overdose decline now sits on top of a supply that's getting harder, not easier, to detect.
- May 21Policy & Funding
When Federal Funds Walk Away from Test Strips: What the SAMHSA Harm Reduction Reset Means for People Trying to Stay Alive
SAMHSA's April 2026 guidance narrowed what federal funds can support — pulling test strips, sterile syringes, and pipes off the eligible list. We unpack what changed, what didn't, and what it means for Arizonans living with substance use.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Substance Spotlight: Nicotine Pouches — The Paradox of an FDA-Authorized Product Whose Youth Use Is Still Climbing
FDA authorized 20 ZYN nicotine pouches and granted a first-of-its-kind Modified Risk Tobacco Product claim, while NIDA reports a 35% year-over-year increase in high-school use and FDA opened a formal investigation of Zyn marketing. The policy paradox of harm reduction at population scale.
- May 21Arizona Watch
Arizona's 2026 Settlement Naloxone Pipeline: 40,000 Units Confirmed for September Delivery
Arizona has confirmed 6,599 Hikma units and 8,428 Amneal units (year one of four) for September 2026 nasal-naloxone delivery, plus 55,000 units announced separately by the Arizona Attorney General. The pipeline is real — and concentrated in the fall.
- May 21Technology & Innovation
Bicycle Health Doubles Down on Clinical Leadership — Days After PHTI Calls Virtual MOUD a Substitute, Not a Door
Bicycle Health, the leading virtual MOUD provider, announced clinical leadership expansion on May 5. The Peterson Health Technology Institute's recent finding — that virtual MAT slightly improves retention but doesn't expand access to new-to-treatment patients — reframes what virtual addiction care can actually do.
- May 21The Crisis, By the Numbers
FDA Spotlights the 'Synthetic Soup': Why the Drug Supply Is Outrunning Naloxone
FDA's May 7 webinar with UNC's Nabarun Dasgupta laid out the rapidly evolving illicit drug supply — nitazenes, cychlorphine, BTPMS, medetomidine — and the limits of standard overdose reversal in the post-fentanyl era.
- May 21Treatment & Recovery
After the Overdose: The 30 Days That Decide Survival
A new CAMH/ICES study finds 9% of opioid overdose survivors die within a year and 21% have a repeat overdose — with the highest risk in the 7–30 days after ED discharge. A simultaneous JAMA Network Open Delphi study from Yale lays out the clinical consensus on hospital-initiated MOUD that could close that gap.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Substance Spotlight: psychedelics-empathogens — the post-Lykos redesign
Psychedelic drug developers are redesigning Phase 2 and 3 trials to address the issues that sank Lykos in 2024 — functional unblinding, unstandardized therapy, durability. Trump's April 18 EO accelerates the timeline. Here's what changed.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Substance Spotlight — Psychedelics & Empathogens: ibogaine, noribogaine, and the question the field has not answered yet
A short field-level spotlight on where psychedelic-assisted therapy actually stands in May 2026 — Compass Pathways' second Phase 3 hit, DemeRx's noribogaine IND for alcohol use disorder, the Trump administration's April 18 executive order, and the unresolved questions Lykos was forced to confront in 2024.
- May 21Technology & Innovation
Smartphone-delivered contingency management is being studied. The economics already make sense.
Two 2026 papers reframe stimulant treatment: a model showing CM avoids 274 overdose deaths in a one-year cohort at $750 incentive cap, plus a JMIR qualitative study on smartphone delivery.
- May 21Harm Reduction
Galaxy Gas, Oregon HB 3447, and the slow-motion crackdown on recreational nitrous oxide
Oregon's HB 3447 took effect January 1, 2026. Florida tightened its rules. The FDA reissued its consumer warning. Civil suits against Galaxy Gas and retailers are proceeding. Recreational nitrous oxide is finally getting policy attention.
- May 21Science & Medicine
DemeRx's noribogaine for alcohol use disorder is now the first US ibogaine derivative in clinical development
FDA accepted the IND for DemeRx's DMX-1001 (noribogaine) for alcohol use disorder. Phase 1 data showed safety up to 80 mg daily; cardiac QT effect was dose-related but not clinically relevant. Phase 2 expected 2027.
- May 21Policy & Funding
ACF will match 50% on MOUD for parents at risk of losing their kids — and the family-preservation framing is what makes it new
ACF announced a 50% federal match for medication for opioid use disorder when a child is at imminent risk of foster care placement but can remain at home or with kin. The policy ties addiction medicine to family-preservation outcomes — a meaningful conceptual shift.
- May 21Arizona Watch
Arizona is up 17%. The country is down 21%. The gap is not random.
For the 12 months ending September 2025, Arizona's overdose deaths rose 17% — the largest increase of any state — while the country fell 21%. Methamphetamine is now in 67% of fatal Maricopa overdoses.
- May 21Policy & Funding
The 2026 National Drug Control Strategy is out — and the contradictions are the story
The 2026 National Drug Control Strategy emphasizes faith-based recovery, peer-support workforce expansion, recovery-ready workplaces, and concern about high-potency cannabis. It also lists harm reduction as a priority — even as SAMHSA pulls federal funding for the supplies that operationalize it.
- May 21Policy & Funding
Inhalants finally have a regulatory moment — and the recovery field isn't ready
Oregon's age-18 ID requirement for nitrous oxide and Florida's expanded ban mark the first real regulatory movement on inhalants in decades. Here's what the patchwork crackdown means for people who use, families, and treatment providers.
- May 21Arizona Watch
Arizona is moving the wrong way: what a +17% overdose year means for our launch state
While the U.S. recorded a 15.9% drop in overdose deaths for the 12 months ending November 2025, Arizona moved the other direction — a +17% increase, the largest in the country. We unpack the state and Maricopa County data, the polysubstance pattern, and what is changing on the ground.
- May 21Treatment & Recovery
Substance Spotlight: Dissociatives — the ketamine clinic boom is meeting its first wave of regulatory pressure
The ketamine clinic boom is meeting its first wave of regulatory enforcement. Here's the difference between FDA-approved Spravato, off-label IV ketamine, and at-home compounded ketamine — and what it means for safety.
- May 21Policy & Funding
Two states just banned retail whippets — and inhalants are quietly becoming the next state-policy battleground
Tennessee and Washington passed retail bans on nitrous oxide whippets in 2026. With nitrous-related deaths up ~600% over 13 years, inhalants are emerging as a serious state-level policy issue.