Rosanna Smart

Economist; Affiliate Faculty, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. in economics, University of California, Los Angeles; M.A. in economics, University of California, Los Angeles; B.A. in economics, Pomona College

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Rosanna Smart is an economist at the RAND Corporation and a member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School faculty. Her research is in applied microeconomics, with a focus on issues related to health behaviors, illicit markets, drug policy, gun policy, and criminal justice issues.

Her work has covered a variety of topics related to the criminal justice system, including funded projects studying student and school factors associated with involvement in the criminal justice system, evaluations of criminal justice policy change and program implementation in Los Angeles, and policy mechanisms to increase labor demand for workers with criminal records. Other work includes estimating the health consequences of increased medical marijuana availability on spillovers to illicit marijuana use by adolescents and mortality related to use of other addictive substances; understanding the evolution and impact of recreational marijuana markets; developing improved measures and methods to assess implementation and impact of state opioid policies; as well as several research projects related to gun policy and firearm violence.

Smart received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Research Focus

Commentary

'Stand Your Ground' Laws May Be Causing More Harm Than Good
Americans have debated whether “stand your ground” laws or gun-free zones make us safer or less safe for decades. These are debates about factual matters that are, in principle, knowable. Without research on these and other topics, bad laws will inadvertently be passed or retained.
Sep 12, 2019 Orlando Sentinel
How Will Cannabis Legalization Affect Alcohol Consumption?
How will legalization of recreational marijuana affect alcohol consumption? Will drinking go down because people substitute cannabis for alcohol? Or will drinking go up because cannabis and alcohol complement each other? These questions have important implications.
Feb 13, 2018 GreenState (San Francisco Chronicle)

Publications

Journal Article
Systematic Review of the Emerging Literature on the Effectiveness of Naloxone Access Laws in the United States
The existing literature on naloxone access laws in the United States supports beneficial effects for increased naloxone distribution, but provides inconclusive evidence for reduced fatal opioid overdose.
Jul 28, 2020
Journal Article
The State of the Science in Opioid Policy Research
The rigor of study design varies notably across policy categories, highlighting the need for broader adoption of rigorous methods in opioid policy research.
Jul 7, 2020
Journal Article
Journal Article
Changes in Firearm Mortality Following the Implementation of State Laws Regulating Firearm Access and Use
Laws that regulate children's access to firearms, the carrying of a concealed firearm, and the use of a firearm in self-defense, are associated with an 11% decrease in the firearms-related death rate.
Jun 26, 2020
Tool
Understanding and Using Research on Gun Policy in America: An Interdisciplinary Unit Plan Based on RAND's Gun Policy in America Website, Suggested Grades 10–12
As part of the Gun Policy in America initiative, RAND researchers developed a unit plan centered on the evidence-based resources on the project website. The unit, designed for grades 10-12, helps students understand existing gun policy research.
Jun 11, 2020
Report
The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Second Edition
This report, the second edition of an earlier work, synthesizes the available scientific evidence for the effects of various firearm policies on firearm deaths, violent crime, the gun industry, defensive gun use, and other outcomes.
Apr 22, 2020
Tool
State-Level Estimates of Household Firearm Ownership
As part of the Gun Policy in America initiative, researchers developed annual, state-level estimates of household firearm ownership from 1980 to 2016, which should help further research on the relationship between firearm ownership and key outcomes.
Apr 22, 2020
Report
Comparing the Army's Suicide Rate to the General U.S. Population: Identifying Suitable Characteristics, Data Sources, and Analytic Approaches
Researchers investigate how accounting for demographic factors beyond age and gender (race/ethnicity, time, marital status, and educational attainment) affects suicide rate differences between soldiers and the general U.S. population.
Mar 10, 2020
Journal Article
Legal Requirements and Recommendations to Prescribe Naloxone
We conducted a systematic legal review of state laws that mandate or recommend that healthcare providers prescribe naloxone to patients with indicators for opioid overdose risk.
Feb 21, 2020
Journal Article
We Need a Taxonomy of State-Level Opioid Policies
Developing and using a state-level opioid policy can facilitate the design and implementation of more effective state-level policies-an essential tool in addressing the opioid crisis.
Feb 7, 2020
Journal Article
An Observational Study of Retail Pharmacy Naloxone Prescriptions: Differences Across Provider Specialties and Patient Populations
This article explores variation in pharmacy-dispensed naloxone by prescriber specialty and patient characteristics.
Dec 6, 2019
Journal Article
Strengths and Weaknesses of Existing Data Sources to Support Research to Address the Opioids Crisis
We conducted a scoping study to identify data sources and linking strategies commonly used in opioid studies, describe data source strengths and limitations, and highlight opportunities to use data to address public health research questions.
Dec 5, 2019
Journal Article
Early Evidence of the Impact of Cannabis Legalization on Cannabis Use, Cannabis Use Disorder, and the Use of Other Substances: Findings from State Policy Evaluations
Understanding effects of cannabis laws requires greater attention to differences in short- versus long-term effects of the laws, nuances of policies and patterns of consumption, and careful consideration of appropriate control groups.
Oct 30, 2019
Journal Article
Who Receives Naloxone from Emergency Medical Services? Characteristics of Calls and Recent Trends
Administration of naloxone by emergency medical services personnel is increasing faster than opioid-related deaths.
Sep 17, 2019
Report
After the Grand Opening: Assessing Cannabis Supply and Demand in Washington State
This report provides detailed information about state-legal cannabis production and sales in Washington, as well as insights about the total amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) obtained from legal and illegal sources by Washington residents.
Aug 2, 2019
Report
Considering Heroin-Assisted Treatment and Supervised Drug Consumption Sites in the United States
In this mixed-methods report, the authors assess evidence on and arguments made about heroin-assisted treatment and supervised consumption sites and examine some of the issues associated with implementing them in the United States.
Dec 6, 2018
Draft
Evidence on the Effectiveness of Heroin-Assisted Treatment
This working paper is part of a series of reports assessing the evidence on and arguments made about heroin-assisted treatment and supervised consumption sites and examining some of the issues associated with implementing them in the United States.
Dec 6, 2018
Journal Article
Data Sources and Data-Linking Strategies to Support Research to Address the Opioid Crisis: Final Report
This report highlights key research questions and identifies opportunities to use existing data sources and implement data-linking strategies that can support the HHS five point strategy to combat the opioid crisis.
Oct 16, 2018
Report
Examining Consumer Responses to Calorie Information on Restaurant Menus in a Discrete Choice Experiment
In light of the 2014 U.S. Food and Drug Administration final rule requiring the calorie content of food items to be clearly displayed on menus, RAND researchers designed an online survey to look at how this information affects consumers.
Mar 28, 2018
Report
The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States
This report synthesizes the available scientific evidence on the effects of various firearm policies on firearm deaths, violent crime, the gun industry, participation in hunting and sport shooting, and other outcomes.
Mar 2, 2018
Research Brief
Incentivizing Employers to Hire Ex-Offenders: What Policies Are Most Effective?
To inform efforts aimed at improving employment rates and earnings potential for ex-offenders, RAND researchers examined employer preferences of policy options designed to incentivize employment of individuals with felony criminal records.
Feb 8, 2018
Report
Breaking Down Barriers: Experiments into Policies That Might Incentivize Employers to Hire Ex-Offenders
To inform policies and programs aimed at improving employment rates for ex-offenders, we conducted experiments to examine employer preferences regarding policy options targeted to incentivize hiring individuals with one nonviolent felony conviction.
Jan 15, 2018
Journal Article
Variation in Cannabis Potency and Prices in a Newly Legal Market: Evidence from 30 Million Cannabis Sales in Washington State
In Washington state, the potency and price of legal cannabis are currently being shaped by the market rather than by policy levers.
Sep 12, 2017
Report
Impact of Proposition 47 on Los Angeles County Operations and Budget
This report recommends how to measure the impact of Proposition 47 (and future legislative mandates) on Los Angeles County operations and budgets and what metrics should be tracked.
Jun 15, 2017
Journal Article
Journal Article
Medical Marijuana and Marijuana Legalization
State actions to relax marijuana policies vary substantially, making it difficult to compare policies and draw conclusions about user and market reactions.
May 31, 2017