Semaglutide, however you can get it

Documentary opportunity, opioids + stimulants, and more news

🎥 OpenDoors is looking for a documentary film producer who may be interested in following their pilot project starting next month that will provide semaglutide in a polysubstance post-incarceration female population and track recidivism and other outcomes. This will be a fascinating and groundbreaking project, and it’s got it all from a storytelling perspective— crime, addiction, hope, and innovation. Be in touch if you know someone who might be interested. Narrative podcasters might also want to follow this. Email me if you are interested.

💉 I was recently quoted by iNews in the UK on people seeking out semaglutide even when they can’t get insurance coverage:

“If we have a treatment that we know reduces mortality for people who have obesity, and you’re not providing that affordably, they’re going to find other ways of getting it,” said Reville.

I’ve noticed that people hate mortality!

Needless to say, many are doing the same for addiction self-treatment. This week I spoke to a thin, athletic senior executive at a major corporation who recently got semaglutide online, prescribed for weight loss, which he is actually using for substance use disorders. His cravings and use disappeared instantly after the first starter 0.25mg injection (individuals with low BMIs often need very low doses to see cravings vanish). “Mindblowing” he told me.

💊 A reader sent in this important Lancet study on co-prescription of opioids and stimulants. The paper suggests that patients who are prescribed stimulants are more likely to escalate doses of opioid prescriptions:

Stimulant prescription before the initial opioid prescription was positively associated with escalating opioid doses (odds ratio [OR]: 7.58; 95% confidence intervals [CI] 6.14–9.35, opioid dose increasing group compared to the decreasing group). Stimulant co-prescriptions were also associated with increasing opioid doses (OR: 1.73; 95% CI 1.40–2.14) and were identified in patients with a higher prevalence of opioid use disorder.

This isn’t a surprising finding given the nature of stimulant use disorder but it is the kind of data that could change prescribing guidelines, unlock insurance coverage for non-addictive painkillers, and help thousands of patients avoid OUD.

📞 Spectator: Could Ozempic cure your phone addiction? Not much science in this article, but notable as a cultural question— “Some of those taking it for weight loss are said to have lost interest in other compulsive behaviours aside from eating, from biting nails to shopping.”

🏛️ We are continuing our effort to expand the FDA priority review voucher (PRV) program to include substance use disorder indications. As I wrote in our Innovation Agenda for Addiction, published with the Federation of American Scientists and the Institute for Progress, a PRV program can reinvigorate biotech activity for addiction medicine, as PRVs have done for other neglected indications. We desperately need more shots on goal to expand the number of available SUD treatments. Please be in touch if you have a relationship with any members of Congress who may be interested in helping to advance this legislation— we are building our coalition now and have draft legislation prepared.