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Substance Use

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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.

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.
Project

Can the 24/7 Sobriety Program Reduce Problem Drinking and Improve Public Health?

Nov 15, 2012

The 24/7 Sobriety Program requires those arrested for or convicted of alcohol-related offenses to take twice-a-day breathalyzer tests or wear a continuous alcohol monitoring bracelet. Those who fail or skip their tests are immediately subject to swift, certain but modest sanctions—typically a day or two in jail.

Explore Substance Use

Research Brief

Drinking It In: The Impact of Youth Exposure to Alcohol Advertising

Youths in this study (ages 11-14) were exposed to an average of three alcohol ads per day; black and Hispanic youths' exposure was roughly double that of white youths. Exposure to alcohol ads led youths to view alcohol and drinking more positively.

May 23, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Blackouts as a Moderator of Young Adult Veteran Response to Personalized Normative Feedback for Heavy Drinking

Online personalized normative feedback (PNF) interventions for alcohol use may be particularly effective for people who have recently experienced an alcohol-induced blackout.

May 22, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Tobacco Smoking and Antisocial Deviance Among Vietnamese, Vietnamese-American, and European-American Adolescents

Culturally-tailored smoking prevention programs that focus on different aspects of antisocial deviance -- e.g., risk taking vs rule breaking -- may help reduce teen smoking rates.

May 22, 2018
News Release

Adolescents Who View More Medical Marijuana Advertising Are More Likely to Use Marijuana, Have Positive Views About the Drug

Adolescents who view more advertising for medical marijuana are more likely to use marijuana, express intentions to use the drug, and have more-positive expectations about the substance. An increasing amount of advertising about marijuana may prompt young people to increase their use of the drug.

May 17, 2018
Testimony

Potency Options for Canada If Cannabis Is Legalized

If passed into law, Bill C-45 would legalize access to cannabis in Canada. When debating the potency of cannabis products to be sold in legal markets, policymakers should consider several key points. These include health consequences, potency caps, and taxes based on THC content.

May 7, 2018
Periodical

Periodical

RAND Review: May-June 2018

This issue features research on preventing child abuse and neglect and improving outcomes for children in the U.S. child-welfare system; a look back on RAND's 70 years of innovation; and an exploration of the human side of artificial intelligence.

Apr 30, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Addressing the Opioid Epidemic in the United States: Lessons from the Department of Veterans Affairs

Reflecting a comprehensive VA effort to improve pain management, in 2007 fewer veterans received high doses of opioids and more veterans received non-opioid pain therapies, naloxone, and treatment for substance use disorders.

Apr 26, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Supply-Side Drug Policy in the Presence of Substitutes: Evidence from the Introduction of Abuse-Deterrent Opioids

Results suggest that a substantial share of the dramatic increase in heroin deaths since 2010 can be attributed to the reformulation of OxyContin.

Apr 26, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

The Feasibility of a Web Intervention for Military and Veteran Spouses Concerned About Their Partner's Alcohol Misuse

It is feasible to deliver a web-based intervention to help concerned partners of military service members and veterans who suffer from alcohol misuse; partners found the program useful and acceptable.

Apr 18, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Longitudinal Associations Between Alcohol-Related Cognitions and Use in African American and European American Adolescent Girls

Variation in associations between use and cognition (perceptions of drinking) does not account for the lower prevalence of alcohol use in African American girls as compared to white girls from ages 12-17.

Apr 11, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Effects of Motivational Interviewing Fidelity on Substance Use Treatment Engagement in Primary Care

Motivational interviewing is used extensively to improve health and substance use-related outcomes, but therapists may need more training in strategic use of the approach.

Apr 3, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Predictors of Retention in an Alcohol and Risky Sex Prevention Program for Homeless Young Adults

Homeless young adults were less likely to complete an alcohol and other drug and risky sex prevention program if they had slept outside or received the program in an urban setting.

Apr 3, 2018
Journal Article

One Size Fits All? Disentangling the Effects of Tobacco Taxes, Laws, and Control Spending on Adult Subgroups in the US

Among three state-level tobacco policies (cigarette taxation, tobacco control spending, and smoke-free air laws, only taxation significantly reduced smoking among the general adult population.

Mar 28, 2018
Journal Article

Medical Marijuana Laws and Adolescent Marijuana Use in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Current evidence does not support the hypothesis that US medical marijuana laws until 2014 have led to increases in adolescent marijuana use.

Mar 22, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Using Marijuana, Drinking Alcohol or a Combination of Both: The Association of Marijuana, Alcohol and Sexual Risk Behaviour Among Adolescents

Adolescents were who used both alcohol and marijuana or alcohol alone were more likely than others to report having both two or more sexual partners and condomless sex in the past month.

Mar 22, 2018
Journal Article

Use of Protective Behavioral Strategies Among Young Adult Veteran Marijuana Users

Taking periodic breaks from marijuana use or avoiding using marijuana before work or school may be important protective strategies for young veterans who choose to use marijuana to cope with symptoms of PTSD.

Mar 20, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Does Documented Brief Intervention Predict Decreases in Alcohol Use in Primary Care?

Increased documentation of elements of a Brief Intervention was not associated with decreased heavy drinking among patients 6 months after they had been identified as having unhealthy alcohol use.

Mar 1, 2018
Journal Article

Market Supply and the Opioid Crisis: Looking Back for a Path Forward

Abundant supply of opioids was one of the major causes of the opioid crisis. Broader supply-side policies that consider the full market, if coupled with effective treatment, are likely to be effective and resistant to substitution effects.

Mar 1, 2018
Journal Article

Journal Article

Using Claims Data to Examine Hospital Readmission Risk in Patients With Schizophrenia and Comorbid Marijuana Use Disorders

Results suggest that AUD and other drug use disorder are more problematic than marijuana use disorder in terms of repeated hospital admissions for SSD. Marijuana use disorder does not appear to be associated with shorter times until readmission.

Feb 21, 2018
Commentary

Strategies to Help Young Adults Limit Negative Consequences of Marijuana Use

Young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 have been shown to be the most prevalent and problematic users of marijuana. There are proven strategies that they can use to help protect themselves from experiencing harmful effects.

Feb 19, 2018

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RAND Topic:
Substance Use

Topic Synonyms:
Drug Use