Skip to page content

Substance Use

Featured

Substance use touches on many facets of public policy, including health and health care, economic issues, criminal justice, and risk behaviors — particularly among youth. Accordingly, RAND conducts drug policy research that addresses a range of concerns, from treatment effectiveness, harm reduction, drug markets and supply, and predictors and consequences to evaluations of programs to prevent youth from using and abusing drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.

Research Brief

Substance Use Among U.S. Active-Duty Service Members

Jun 21, 2018

The 2015 Health Related Behaviors Survey asked active-duty service members about their use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit and prescription drugs. Cigarette smoking in the military has decreased over the past decade, but rates of binge drinking are still high enough to cause concern.
Journal Article

Tobacco Power Wall Exposure Increases Adolescents' Willingness to Try E-Cigarettes

Jun 28, 2018

Exposure to the tobacco “power wall” in convenience stores and other retail settings may increase adolescents' willingness to try e-cigarettes, much like other tobacco products.

Explore Substance Use

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

Rates and Impact of Adherence to Recommended Care for Unhealthy Alcohol Use

The objectives of this study were to describe quality of care for unhealthy alcohol use among patients visiting primary care settings and to determine whether better quality of alcohol care was linked to reduced alcohol consumption 6 months later.

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
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

Predictors of Treatment Initiation for Alcohol Use Disorders in Primary Care

This study suggests that either treatment may not be delivered equitably or that patient preference may be an important factor in determining who gets what treatment.

Mar 7, 2019
Commentary

Hadrian's Wall Was a Policy Statement; So Is Donald Trump's

It's not clear if Hadrian's Wall was necessary to prevent Scottish fighters from invading the Roman Empire. Neither is it clear how effective Trump's wall would be at repelling undocumented immigration and smugglers. Hadrian's Wall may have been of symbolic value to those on both sides of it. Trump's could be, too.

Mar 6, 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

Study Design to Evaluate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Among a Diverse Sample of Adults with a First-Time DUI Offense

The proposed study addresses 2 important public health problems: (1) Individuals convicted of a DUI are mandated to attend a DUI program, but many recidivate and, (2) There is a disproportionate lack of access to AUD treatment for Latino populations.

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
Journal Article

Journal Article

Unveiling an 'Invisible Population': Health, Substance Use, Sexual Behavior, Culture, and Discrimination Among Urban American Indian/Alaska Native Adolescents in California

American Indian/Alaska Native adolescents in this study used alcohol or other drugs at rates similar to those found in national surveys and rates of risky sexual behavior were also comparable to national data.

Feb 28, 2019
Commentary

Opioids and a Crisis of Unintended Consequences

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.

Feb 20, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Differences in Substance Use Disparities Across Age Groups in a National Cross-Sectional Survey of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults

Using national data, we test for age differences in substance use disparities among LGB adults. Contrary to hypothesized decreased minority stress in recent generations, we find that disparities were not systematically smaller in younger age groups.

Feb 12, 2019
News Release

Reformulation of OxyContin to Discourage Abuse Linked to Higher Rates of Hepatitis C Infections

To discourage drug abuse, the pain medicine OxyContin was reformulated in 2010, making it difficult to crush or dissolve. This led to a large rise in hepatitis C infections as drug abusers switched from OxyContin to injectable heroin.

Feb 4, 2019
Journal Article

Journal Article

Association Among County-Level Economic Factors, Clinician Supply, Metropolitan or Rural Location, and Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

This analysis found a significant association among higher long-term unemployment, higher mental health clinician shortage areas, and higher county-level rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome.

Feb 1, 2019
News Release

Study Links Long-Term Unemployment to Increase in Babies Born with Opioid Withdrawal

Babies born after being exposed to opioids before birth are more likely to be delivered in regions of the U.S. with high rates of long-term unemployment and lower levels of mental health services.

Jan 30, 2019

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Next

RAND Topic:
Substance Use

Topic Synonyms:
Drug Use