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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.

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

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
News Release

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

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.

May 6, 2019
News Release

Using Cannabis and Tobacco/Nicotine Together Is Linked to Heavier Use and Poorer Functioning Among Young Adults

More than a third of young adults report using both cannabis and tobacco or nicotine products, providing a unique challenge to public health officials as cannabis is legalized in more jurisdictions.

Apr 29, 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
Journal Article

Do Graphic Health Warning Labels on Cigarette Packages Deter Purchases at Point-of-Sale? An Experiment With Adult Smokers

Graphic health warning labels reduced the chances of cigarette purchases for smokers lower in nicotine dependence but had no effect on smokers higher in dependence.

Apr 26, 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
Dissertation

Dissertation

The Criminal Justice System and More Lenient Drug Policy: Three Case Studies on California's Changes to How Its Criminal Justice System Addresses Drug Use

Explores California's recent liberal policies, mostly associated to drug-related crimes, to provide implications for future policymaking.

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
Journal Article

Journal Article

Evaluation of the Drugs and Alcohol Recovery Payment by Results Pilot Programme: Final Report

An evaluation of how the PbR approach can help to provide different schemes that support the recovery of individuals from drug and alcohol dependence and their successful re-integration into their communities.

Apr 11, 2019
News Release

Graphic Warning Labels on Tobacco Packages Can Deter Some Smokers

Placing graphic anti-smoking warning labels on cigarette packages may deter some adults from purchasing tobacco products. But the strategy is unlikely to influence smokers who are most addicted to nicotine.

Apr 9, 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

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RAND Topic:
Substance Use

Topic Synonyms:
Drug Use