Note from the Director

We are pleased to announce the release of our first wave of OPTIC-vetted policy data sets, intended to help researchers and the policy community understand some of the different ways particular policy variables have been defined and provide a useful resource for checking the importance and sensitivity of alternative definitions in their own work. This should improve awareness of these issues and promote reproducibility of study findings. For example, prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) might look identical, but how the programs function can differ by state. Our OPTIC-vetted policy data sets showcase important alternative definitions researchers have used for PDMPs and other opioid-related policies. The data sets and documentation are available for public use and can be downloaded as .zip files from OPTIC's site.

We also posted the OPTIC Policy Center Literature Library, which includes peer-reviewed articles published between 2005 and 2018 that are summarized in a recent paper. The library can be searched by keyword, type of policy, and/or type of outcome.

Finally, in mid-September we offered a webinar: Pitfalls and Potholes: Issues to Consider When Conducting Analyses of State Opioid Policy. Presented by Rosalie Pacula and Rosanna Smart, the webinar focused on data dimensions that researchers should keep in mind when seeking to draw conclusions from studies, including the policy definitions data curators are using and which attributes of a policy are being evaluated from study to study. We have also added a list of COVID-19 related resources to our site, drawing from work across the scientific community.

Stay safe. – Bradley Stein, Director OPTIC