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News Release

Allowing Pharmacists to Directly Dispense Opioid Antidote Can Sharply Cut Opioid Overdose Deaths

May 6, 2019

Allowing pharmacists to dispense the opioid antidote naloxone without a physician's prescription can sharply reduce the incidence of fatal opioid-related overdoses. States that adopted such laws saw fatal opioid overdoses fall by an average of 27 percent during the second year following passage and 34 percent in subsequent years.
Report

Considering Heroin-Assisted Treatment and Supervised Drug Consumption Sites in America

Dec 6, 2018

Increasing access to medications like methadone and buprenorphine is essential to addressing the U.S. opioid crisis. But the severity of the crisis warrants examining additional interventions. What does the evidence suggest about heroin-assisted treatment and supervised consumption sites? And what are some of the issues associated with implementing them in the United States?

Explore Opioids

Commentary

China's Ban on Fentanyl Drugs Won't Likely Stem America's Opioid Crisis

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.

May 22, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Association Between State Laws Facilitating Pharmacy Distribution of Naloxone and Risk of Fatal Overdose

Although many states have passed some type of law affecting naloxone availability, only laws allowing direct dispensing by pharmacists appear to be useful. Communities in which access to naloxone is improved should prepare for increases in nonfatal overdoses and link these individuals to effective treatment.

May 22, 2019
News Release

News Release

Some Asian Nations Reforming Drug Policies; China Unlikely to Curb Fentanyl Exports in Short Term

Strict policies traditionally embraced by Asian nations to discourage illicit drug use are beginning to change, with a few nations adopting alternative approaches while other nations are taking an even harder line against drugs.

May 15, 2019
Report

Contemporary Asian Drug Policy

An analysis of drug use, drug supply, and the burden of disease associated with illegal drugs in Asia can inform policies aiming to reduce substance use disorders and drug trafficking. Three case studies show how drug policy is shifting in the Philippines, Thailand, and China.

May 15, 2019
Periodical

Periodical

RAND Review: May-June 2019

This issue describes RAND research efforts to help schoolkids suffering from trauma; to help health care providers get better, more meaningful feedback; and to use technology to improve the lives of displaced people throughout the world.

Apr 29, 2019
Blog

A Holistic Approach to Solving the Opioid Crisis

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.

Apr 15, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Healthcare Costs and Opioid Use Associated with High-Impact Chronic Spinal Pain in the United States

Opioid dosage and use increased annually for individuals with all levels of chronic pain; those with high-impact pain had average dosing 5.5 times higher than those with low-impact pain.

Apr 11, 2019
Commentary

(Grey's) Anatomy of an Opioid Crisis

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.

Apr 8, 2019
Journal Article

The Affordable Care Act in The Heart of the Opioid Crisis: Evidence from West Virginia

The growing use of medication treatment for opioid use disorder in the West Virginia Medicaid expansion population provides an opportunity to reduce overdose deaths.

Apr 4, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Reducing High-Dose Opioid Prescribing: State-Level Morphine Equivalent Daily Dose Policies, 2007-2017

Morphine equivalent daily dose thresholds are a promising policy tool, but there is a lack of consensus about how to use the thresholds and what the threshold level should be.

Mar 22, 2019
Research Brief

The Ecology of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Newborns exposed to opioids before birth can experience withdrawal symptoms known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). From 2009 to 2015, the average NAS rate per 1,000 hospital births across eight states rose from about six to more than 25.

Mar 15, 2019
Tool

Simulation of County Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) Rates Tool

This web-based tool aims to inform policymakers about the rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome by county across eight states from 2009 to 2015. This analysis is displayed via maps and interactive charts.

Mar 15, 2019
Commentary

Addressing Federal Conflicts Over Supervised Drug Consumption Sites

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.

Mar 14, 2019
Journal Article

A Transitioning Epidemic: How The Opioid Crisis Is Driving The Rise In Hepatitis C

The 2010 reformulation of Oxycontin to prevent abuse of the drug (by making it crush-proof and therefore impossible to dissolve in liquid) had the unintended effect of driving some users to switch to heroin, which contributed to a dramatic rise in Hepatitis C.

Mar 13, 2019
Journal Article

Changes in Outpatient Services and Medication Use Following a Non-fatal Opioid Overdose in the West Virginia Medicaid Program

Fewer than 10% of West Virginia Medicaid enrollees received medication for opioid use disorder after a non-fatal overdose, making it an opportunity to increase treatment for opioid use disorder and co-occurring mental health conditions.

Mar 12, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Initiation and Engagement as Mechanisms for Change Caused by Collaborative Care in Opioid and Alcohol Use Disorders

This research sheds light on how collaborative care (CC) may work to increase abstinence in a sample of primary care patients with opioid and alcohol use disorders (OAUD).

Mar 7, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Commentary: Applying the Community Partners in Care Approach to the Opioid Crisis

Consideration of how the CPIC approach of comparing coalition and individual technical assistance interventions to implement behavioral health treatments across sectors might be adapted to address the opioid epidemic.

Mar 7, 2019
Commentary

Opioid-Dependent Newborns in My West Virginia Hometown Point to a Path Out of Drug Crisis

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.

Mar 6, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Physician Prescribing of Opioids to Patients at Increased Risk of Overdose From Benzodiazepine Use in the United States

New opioid prescriptions decreased among higher-risk patients who used benzodiazepines from 2010 to 2015, suggesting that the rapid increase in opioid-related deaths is primarily associated with factors other than physicians writing new opioid prescriptions.

Mar 1, 2019

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