Opioids

Drug Policy and Trends
commentary
Want to Know If a New Drug Crisis Is Growing? Check the Wastewater
Bryce Pardo @brycepardo, Debra Knopman
Mar 26, 2020
Scientific American
Few people foresaw how quickly fentanyl would displace heroin, doubling or tripling opioid overdose deaths in some pockets of the United States from 2013 to 2017. But we could have been warned—if only we'd checked our wastewater.
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Russia
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Russian Subversion, Truth Decay, Supervised Drug Consumption Sites: RAND Weekly Recap
Feb 28, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on responding to Russian subversion, how the media can help fight Truth Decay, the first supervised drug consumption site in the United States, artificial intelligence, and more.
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Maternal Health
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Infectious Diseases, Zimbabwe, Students with Disabilities: RAND Weekly Recap
Feb 14, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on the U.S. response to infectious diseases, Zimbabwe after Mugabe, the support for students with disabilities, and more.
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Politics and Government
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State of the Union 2020: Insights from RAND
Feb 5, 2020
The final State of the Union address of President Trump's four-year term may be viewed through the lens of the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the evening. But the speech touched on a range of policy challenges that will remain, regardless of how politics play out in 2020.
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Substance Abuse
commentary
Policies That Punish Pregnant Women for Substance Use Don't Help Mother or Baby
Laura J. Faherty @LauraFahertyMD
Jan 28, 2020
Tennessee Justice Center
About half of all U.S. states now have policies that criminalize substance use during pregnancy, consider it grounds for civil commitment, or consider it child abuse or neglect. But research suggests that punitive policies aren't beneficial for infants or their mothers.
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Wildfires
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Australia's Fires, Artificial Intelligence, Fentanyl: RAND Weekly Recap
Jan 24, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on Australia's devastating fires, how artificial intelligence could manipulate the masses, the fentanyl crisis, and more.
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Turkey
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U.S.-Turkish Relations, Airports, Opioids: RAND Weekly Recap
Jan 17, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on the future of the U.S.-Turkish partnership, helping America's commercial airports meet rising demand, the opioid crisis, and more.
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Opioids
essay
Fentanyl: The Most Dangerous Illegal Drug in America
Jan 13, 2020
America's fentanyl crisis is unlike previous drug epidemics and is likely to get worse. Deaths involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids have surged from around 3,000 in 2013 to more than 30,000 in 2018. Solving the problem requires innovative approaches and unprecedented resources.
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Health and Wellness Promotion
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Preventing the Winter Blues, North Korea, Opioids: RAND Weekly Recap
Jan 3, 2020
This weekly recap focuses on how to ward off the winter blues, Kim Jong Un's latest threat, how to spend opioid settlement funds, and more.
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Health Care Costs
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Most Popular RAND Research of 2019
Dec 24, 2019
The search for lasting solutions to difficult policy problems starts with facts. Here are the 10 research projects that rand.org readers engaged with the most in 2019.
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Opioids
commentary
Where Science Says to Spend Any U.S. Opioid Settlement Money
Rebecca Lee Haffajee, Bradley D. Stein @BradleyDStein
Dec 19, 2019
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A global settlement with pharmaceutical companies has started to appear more and more likely. Even with billions of dollars, the settlement resources won't be unlimited. To avoid mistakes made in the tobacco master settlement agreement, any opioid funds must be carefully allocated.
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Drug Policy and Trends
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Celebrating a Milestone in Drug Policy Research
Dec 12, 2019
In 1989, RAND founded a new Drug Policy Research Center to provide rigorous, nonpartisan research to inform the debate on how to best address America's drug problem. Thirty years later, the center continues to do what it was created to do: improve the understanding of substance use and assess the consequences of an expanding range of drug policies.
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Artificial Intelligence
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Artificial Intelligence Bias, Russia, Fentanyl: RAND Weekly Recap
Nov 29, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on bias in algorithms, Russia's limits in the Middle East, understanding the fentanyl crisis, and more.
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Drug Markets and Supply
commentary
What Will the Opioid Crisis Look Like in Five Years?
Jirka Taylor, Peter Reuter
Nov 18, 2019
Concord Monitor in New Hampshire
Evidence suggests that once a synthetic opioid like fentanyl becomes dominant in a drug market, it stays that way. With that in mind, the United States should prepare for these drugs as a lasting phenomenon.
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Opioids
commentary
Synthetic Opioid Crisis Still Growing, Often Among Unwitting Users
Bryce Pardo @brycepardo, Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer
Oct 14, 2019
Axios
Although opioid prescriptions in the U.S. have fallen, opioid overdose deaths remain at historic levels. The continued spread of fentanyl and other illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids suggests the problem could still get worse.
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Cyber Warfare
blog
Virtual Societal Warfare, Iran, Opioids: RAND Weekly Recap
Oct 11, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on the risk of virtual societal welfare, Iran's domestic debates, federal policy options for supervised consumption sites, and more.
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China
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China's 70th Anniversary, Wargaming, Fentanyl: RAND Weekly Recap
Oct 4, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on what the future holds for China, the importance of gender diversity in wargaming, how Army families address life's challenges, and more.
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Hurricanes
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Hurricane Dorian, Al Qaeda, Veterans' Health: RAND Weekly Recap
Sep 13, 2019
This weekly recap looks at Hurricane Dorian recovery, al Qaeda 18 years after 9/11, veterans' mental health care, and more.
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Information Operations
blog
Social Manipulation, Boko Haram, Citizen Scientists: RAND Weekly Recap
Sep 6, 2019
This weekly recap looks at hostile social manipulation, stopping the next Boko Haram, a citizen-science success story, and more.
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commentary
Tackle Fentanyl like a Poisoning Outbreak, Not a Drug Epidemic
Bryce Pardo @brycepardo, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer
Sep 3, 2019
Los Angeles Times
America's fentanyl problem is far deadlier than past crises with other illegal drugs. New ideas, be they public policies, technologies or law enforcement strategies, are desperately needed. Continuing to treat fentanyl just like previous drug epidemics will likely be insufficient and may condemn thousands more to early deaths.
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Opioids
blog
Synthetic Opioids, Mass Shootings, Prison Education: RAND Weekly Recap
Aug 30, 2019
This weekly recap looks at fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, how to address mass shootings, higher education in prison, and more.
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Mental Health Treatment
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Inmate Suicides, India and Kashmir, Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap
Aug 16, 2019
This weekly recap looks at preventing inmate suicides, India and Kashmir, improving health care for veterans, and more.
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United States
blog
RAND's Summer Reading List for Congress
Aug 5, 2019
For busy staff, August's respite from back-to-back meetings, hearing preparation, and late votes is hard-earned. The summer recess also provides an opportunity to get ahead of issues that will resurface in the fall. To that end, we have compiled recent RAND research on topics likely to top the congressional agenda come September.
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Cybersecurity
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Data Breaches, Correctional Security, Fentanyl: RAND Weekly Recap
Aug 2, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on how consumers respond to data breaches, new security challenges facing correctional institutions, how fentanyl is changing the opioid crisis, and more.
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Postsecondary Education
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Iran, Prison College Programs, Fentanyl: RAND Weekly Recap
May 24, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on Iran's nonstate partners, lessons from a prison college program, what a fentanyl ban in China means for the U.S. opioid crisis, and more.
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Drug Markets and Supply
commentary
China's Ban on Fentanyl Drugs Won't Likely Stem America's Opioid Crisis
Bryce Pardo @brycepardo, Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer
May 22, 2019
Los Angeles Times
Given China's recent decision to ban the unauthorized manufacture of fentanyl, authorities there appear to recognize a growing problem. But China cannot solve the U.S. opioid problem. The United States could do more to reduce demand for opioids as well as drug users' exposure to these powerful drugs.
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Suicide Attack
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Hospital Prices, Border Solutions, Sri Lanka: RAND Weekly Recap
May 10, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on hospital prices, common-sense solutions to the border crisis, myths about the Sri Lanka attacks, and more.
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International Economic Relations
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School Reform, Sanctions, Russian Aggression: RAND Weekly Recap
Apr 19, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on what educators think about school reform, the devastating impacts of economic sanctions, deterring Russian aggression in the Baltics, and more.
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Opioids
blog
A Holistic Approach to Solving the Opioid Crisis
Apr 15, 2019
While federal, state and, local governments deploy strategies to tackle the opioid crisis, the problem continues to proliferate. RAND researchers suggest that these strategies fail to solve the larger problem because they've largely been developed in silos. The opioid crisis is an ecosystem, and mitigating the problem will require a holistic approach.
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Medicare
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Medicare for All, Principals, Cigarette Labels: RAND Weekly Recap
Apr 12, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on spending estimates under Medicare for All, the benefits of principal pipelines, graphic warning labels on cigarettes, and more.
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Opioids
commentary
(Grey's) Anatomy of an Opioid Crisis
Sarah MacCarthy, Bradley D. Stein @BradleyDStein
Apr 8, 2019
Scientific American
More than 130 Americans die every day after overdosing on opioids. So when one of the most popular shows on TV made opioid misuse a major plotline, RAND experts paid attention to how it presented this public health crisis. The show mirrored reality pretty closely, for the narrow slice of the opioid crisis it addressed.
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Gun Violence
blog
Christchurch, Brexit, China and Israel: RAND Weekly Recap
Mar 22, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on the Christchurch shootings, how the UK can improve its post-Brexit prospects, China and Israel's evolving relationship, and more.
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Afghanistan
blog
AI Bias, Opioids, Afghanistan: RAND Weekly Recap
Mar 15, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on the danger of artificial intelligence bias, infants with opioid withdrawal symptoms, peace talks in Afghanistan, and more.
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commentary
Addressing Federal Conflicts Over Supervised Drug Consumption Sites
Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer, Bryce Pardo @brycepardo
Mar 14, 2019
The Hill
With drug overdose deaths mounting, some American cities are trying to create designated spaces where people who use heroin and other drugs can have their consumption supervised by medical professionals. The Department of Justice argues these sites would violate federal law, but federal decisionmakers have several options.
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Opioids
commentary
Opioid-Dependent Newborns in My West Virginia Hometown Point to a Path Out of Drug Crisis
Stephen W. Patrick
Mar 6, 2019
USA Today
In small, rural towns like Bluefield, West Virginia, economies are hurting, the opioid epidemic is growing, and together they are taking a toll on a surprising population: pregnant women and their babies.
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Counterterrorism
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Syrian Workers, Iranian Spies, Jihadi Brides: RAND Weekly Recap
Feb 22, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on jobs for Syrian refugees, Iran's efforts to spy on the United States, the complicated cases of jihadi brides, and more.
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Opioids
commentary
Opioids and a Crisis of Unintended Consequences
David Powell
Feb 20, 2019
The Hill
The pain medicine OxyContin was reformulated in 2010 to make it more difficult to crush or dissolve. But this had unintended consequences, including a rise in hepatitis C infections as drug abusers switched from taking OxyContin to injecting heroin.
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Workforce Development
blog
State of the Union, OxyContin, Appalachia: RAND Weekly Recap
Feb 8, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on insights from RAND after the State of the Union, public-health impacts of reformulating OxyContin, STEM jobs in Appalachia, and more.
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Global Security
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Taliban, Health Care, Russia: RAND Weekly Recap
Feb 1, 2019
This weekly recap focuses on U.S.-Taliban peace talks, what single-payer health care really means, comparing threats from Russia and China, and more.
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Substance Abuse Treatment
commentary
In Opioid Policy, One Size Does Not Fit All
Bradley D. Stein @BradleyDStein
Oct 12, 2018
The Hill
To solve America's opioid crisis, policymakers will need to view the epidemic as an "ecosystem," where policies that target only one part of the problem can have unintended consequences.
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United States
blog
Trump's First State of the Union: Insights from RAND
Jan 31, 2018
RAND research, analysis, and expertise provide context for the issues discussed in the president's first State of the Union address, including infrastructure, North Korea, and opioids.
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United States
blog
RAND's Summer Reading List for Congress
Aug 4, 2017
Hill staffers can make the most of the Congressional recess with this list of must-read research and commentary on the policy issues they will be addressing this fall.
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Opioids
blog
Conversations at RAND: A Sobering Look at the Opioid Epidemic
May 13, 2016
Opioid overdoses were the greatest cause of accidental death in America in 2014. A panel discussion at RAND addressed the epidemic, including societal attitudes toward pain and addiction, poor understanding of the mechanics of addiction itself, economic drivers, legal responses, and treatment approaches.
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essay
Opioid Rising: How to Stop the World's Growing Heroin Crisis
Oct 20, 2015
RAND research offers strategies to save thousands of lives around the world from opioids, such as heroin and prescription painkillers.
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