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Researchers know how to curb the risks of overdose and disease among drug users, but policymakers are reluctant to allow public health measures that include needle exchanges and access to safer drugs. (Mann, 6/19)

Last month, President Biden quietly extended a policy that critics call a betrayal of his campaign promise to end mandatory minimum sentences. The new law concerns “class-wide scheduling of fentanyl analogues.” It may sound like a wonky snooze-fest, but the measure could land more low-level drug dealers in prison for longer and with less proof than is usually required — while kingpins and chemists who manufacture and distribute these new drugs don’t tend to get caught. An analogue is like a chemical cousin to fentanyl — similar in molecular structure, but not exactly the same. Because illegal fentanyl is made in labs (usually black market labs in China), there are almost infinite ways to tinker with its molecules, creating new drugs and staying one step ahead of the feds. As one becomes illegal, cartel chemists invent another. Class-wide scheduling makes a broad swath of analogues preemptively illegal, including substances that haven’t been invented yet — even those that could turn out to be medically useful. A handful of researchers are studying fentanyl analogues for possible new treatments for addiction to opioids — including some promising avenues for a fentanyl vaccine — but say the new law stymies research. (Schwartzapfel, 6/16)

This June marks the 50th anniversary of the war on drugs, an ongoing campaign that has to a large extent reshaped American politics, society and the economy.″ [The goals of the war on drugs] were to literally eradicate all of the social, economic and health ills associated with drugs and drug abuse,” said Christopher Coyne, professor of economics at George Mason University. “It doesn’t get much more ambitious than that.” (Lee, 6/17)

The sixth week of an opioid trial pitting Cabell County and Huntington against opioid distribution companies came to a gridlock due to lengthy cross-examinations by the companies. Throughout week six, the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses said the opioid crisis was fueled by prescription pain pills and has caused a $3.3 billion impact on Huntington and Cabell County. In an attempt to counter, the defense attorneys picked apart the resources the experts used, attempting to find a hole in the studies. (Hessler, 6/20)

Plaintiffs in a federal opioid lawsuit can depose Walmart Inc.'s chief executive, Doug McMillon, despite the company's objection, a federal court representative ruled Wednesday. Special Master David Cohen, appointed by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern District, said in his ruling that the plaintiffs showed that McMillon may have "personal knowledge of and involvement in" matters relevant to the case. (McKay, 6/19)

Several Indiana cities have opted out of the state’s pending lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors, reasoning that they will likely see more cash from their own litigation filed in response to the nation’s opioid epidemic. The suburban Indianapolis cities of Fishers and Noblesville recently joined Indianapolis, South Bend, Lafayette and other municipalities in deciding to forgo potential payments from the lawsuits filed by Indiana’s attorney general’s office. (6/19)