The Log
Archive
261 stories, newest first.
May 2026
- May 21Arizona Watch
AHCCCS just opened a new contracted-service category — and it will reshape who gets residential care in Arizona
AHCCCS issued an RFP for secure behavioral health residential facilities by May 1, 2026 under SB1735. Here's why it matters for substance use treatment navigation in Arizona.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Lancet trial: weekly semaglutide cut heavy drinking days by 41% in patients with AUD and obesity
A randomized Lancet trial: weekly semaglutide reduced heavy drinking days 41% in adults with alcohol use disorder and comorbid obesity. The strongest evidence yet for GLP-1s as an AUD intervention.
- May 21Science & Medicine
A 60-cent antidepressant just produced the first credible pharmacotherapy signal for methamphetamine use disorder
There is no FDA-approved medication for methamphetamine use disorder. A new JAMA Psychiatry trial of mirtazapine — a cheap, take-home antidepressant — is the strongest pharmacotherapy signal in years.
- May 21Lived Experience & Community
The substance class we haven't talked about: inhalants, and why nitrous oxide is in the headlines for the worst reason
Inhalants — particularly nitrous oxide sold under brands like Galaxy Gas and Whip-Its — are driving a fast-rising surveillance signal: Michigan ED visits +757%, US deaths +500% across a decade. What clinicians, parents, and people who use them need to know in 2026.
- May 21Technology & Innovation
NIH HEAL is still the biggest addiction-tech grant pool no one applies for
The NIH HEAL Initiative funded $355M in FY24 across 280 research projects. NIDA's SBIR/STTR small-business pipeline remains an underused door for addiction-tech startups — even as the FY27 budget proposal threatens cuts.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Contingency management cut one-year mortality 41% in stimulant use disorder — the strongest evidence yet
Veterans with stimulant use disorder who received contingency management were 41% less likely to die in the year after treatment initiation, according to a new American Journal of Psychiatry cohort study.
- May 21Policy & Funding
School Access to Naloxone Act gets a bipartisan reintroduction — and a real path
S.3588 — the School Access to Naloxone Act of 2026 — would amend the Public Health Service Act to fund training for school personnel to administer opioid overdose reversal. Bipartisan reintroduction by Merkley and Scott.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Medicare's benzodiazepine line is going the wrong way
Medicare Part D benzodiazepine prescriptions rose from 1.7M to 3.1M between 2017 and 2023, with average days-supplied at 108 and psychiatrist prescribing rates up 250%. What the new Frontiers in Medicine study tells us about a quiet, growing epidemic.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Nicotine pouches and the question we have not asked: what FDA's pending ZYN decision tells us about substance policy
A look at FDA's pending decision on ZYN's Modified Risk Tobacco Product application — what the agency has already said about the science, what the brand is asking for, and what it all might mean for nicotine recovery and tobacco harm reduction.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Compass Pathways' second Phase 3 cleared: psilocybin therapy moves closer to a real FDA decision
Compass Pathways' COMP360 (synthetic psilocybin) cleared its second Phase 3 hurdle for treatment-resistant depression. With the FDA's rolling NDA review and a Commissioner's National Priority Voucher in hand, a decision is expected by late summer or fall 2026.
- May 21Policy & Funding
The federal hemp redefinition is six months from changing the cannabinoid market — and the recovery conversation
Congress's H.R. 5371 redefines hemp using a "total THC" standard, effectively banning most intoxicating delta-8 and THCA products by November 2026. Here is what changes, when, and why it matters for people in recovery.
- May 21Arizona Watch
Arizona's harm reduction funding stack just got more brittle — and more local
SAMHSA's April 24, 2026 funding shift moves more weight onto Arizona's settlement, county, and Medicaid streams for harm-reduction supplies. We map what is funded by what, and where the gap actually lands.
- May 21Harm Reduction
More than test strips: what SAMHSA's April 24 letter signals about the next chapter of harm reduction
SAMHSA's April 24, 2026 letter restricts federal funding for fentanyl test strips, sterile syringes, overdose hotlines, and other harm reduction supplies — and adds new framing on long-term MAT. We unpack what changed, what is allowed, and what programs in Arizona and elsewhere are doing about it.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Stimulants, money, and recovery: how contingency management quietly became the most cost-effective treatment we have
A March 2026 modeling study found contingency management for methamphetamine use disorder costs roughly $9,830 per quality-adjusted life year — well inside the standard threshold. Smartphone-based delivery is the next frontier.
- May 21Harm Reduction
Federal funding pulled from fentanyl test strips: what that means on the ground
New federal guidance issued in April 2026 stopped supporting federal funds for fentanyl test strips. Drug checking still saves lives, but who pays for it is now an open question.
- May 21Science & Medicine
The benzodiazepine deprescribing paradox: when the right answer is 'don't taper'
A 2023 cohort study found higher mortality after deprescribing benzodiazepines in long-term stable patients. New 2026 reviews are pushing for individualized tapering — not blanket cessation. What the evidence actually says.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Ozempic for drinking: what the new GLP-1 + CBT trial actually means for alcohol use disorder
A new NIH-backed randomized trial combined weekly semaglutide with CBT and reduced heavy drinking days 41% in adults with alcohol use disorder. What the data show, where the limits are, and how to think about asking your clinician.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Substance Spotlight — Psychedelics & empathogens: the Compass-Lykos fork
Compass Pathways just won an FDA rolling review for psilocybin. Lykos just cut 75% of staff after MDMA was rejected. The two stories together explain where psychedelic medicine is heading.
- May 21Lived Experience & Community
The 'wounded healer paradox': what a new study tells us about peer support and relapse risk
A new study in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications identifies specific triggers that put peer supporters in recovery at heightened relapse risk — and what programs can do.
- May 21Policy & Funding
April is the deadline. May could be the rollback. SAMHSA's OTP rule and the H.R. 5629 fight, explained.
SAMHSA's 2024 OTP rule hits its first compliance deadline this month — even as a House bill (H.R. 5629) seeks to nullify the methadone and telehealth flexibilities it created.
- May 21Policy & Funding
The illegal disposable vape market is 70% of U.S. sales — and a new GAO report says enforcement isn't close to keeping up
A new GAO report finds that unauthorized disposable vapes make up roughly 70% of the U.S. e-cigarette market while federal enforcement remains largely administrative.
- May 21Science & Medicine
GLP-1s and addiction: how Ozempic, Wegovy, and the next generation could remap alcohol treatment
GLP-1 receptor agonists like semaglutide are showing promise across alcohol, opioid, nicotine, and cannabis use disorders. Here's what the 2026 research says — and what it can't tell us yet.
- May 21Science & Medicine
Substance Spotlight: dissociatives — ketamine clinics, Spravato, and the regulatory gray zone
Spravato (esketamine) is the only FDA-approved dissociative for psychiatry. IV ketamine clinics, compounded ketamine, and racemic ketamine for SUD all operate outside that approval. A spotlight on what dissociatives are, where they fit clinically, and where the gaps are.
- May 21Harm Reduction
Naloxone vending machines and $19 OTC Narcan: the new harm-reduction infrastructure
Travis County is installing 13 new naloxone vending machines this spring. California's CalRx program is selling OTC Narcan at $19. Arizona's Hikma-settlement shipment of 13,198 doses lands in September. The harm-reduction distribution layer is being rebuilt — fast.