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.

News Release

Some Young Americans Aware of New Heated Tobacco Products

Feb 17, 2020

About 12 percent of young adults surveyed were aware of new products that heat—but do not burn—tobacco to produce a nicotine-containing aerosol that is inhaled. They are different from vaping products. Individuals who use other tobacco products or marijuana are those most likely to use them.
Essay

Fentanyl: The Most Dangerous Illegal Drug in America

Jan 13, 2020

America's fentanyl crisis is unlike previous drug epidemics and is likely to get worse. Deaths involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids have surged from around 3,000 in 2013 to more than 30,000 in 2018. Solving the problem requires innovative approaches and unprecedented resources.

Explore Substance Use

Multimedia

RAND Remote: High Stakes, Fostering Innovation to Stem the Tide of America's Drug Problems

In this RAND Remote presentation, Beau Kilmer discusses how RAND is identifying and evaluating innovative approaches to tackle some of America's most pressing drug problems and help strengthen and safeguard communities.

Jan 28, 2021
Blog

Keeping COVID-19 Vaccines Moving, the Capitol Attack, Media Literacy: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on keeping COVID-19 vaccines moving to save more lives; why we need a national commission to investigate the U.S. Capitol attack; media literacy as a tool to counter “Truth Decay,” and more.

Jan 22, 2021
Journal Article

Methodological Challenges and Proposed Solutions for Evaluating Opioid Policy Effectiveness

In this paper, we provide an overview of methodological challenges facing opioid policy researchers when conducting opioid policy evaluation studies using observational data, as well as some potential solutions to those challenges.

Jan 20, 2021
News Release

Density of Marijuana Outlets Associated with More and Higher Use Among Young Adults

As marijuana outlets open after the drug is legalized, the density of those recreational retailers is associated with more use and a greater intensity of use among young adults.

Jan 13, 2021
Journal Article

Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder During COVID-19: Experiences of Clinicians Transitioning to Telemedicine

In the context of the pandemic, buprenorphine prescribers quickly transitioned to providing telemedicine visits in high volume; nonetheless, there are still many unknowns, including the quality and safety of widespread use of telemedicine for OUD treatment.

Jan 6, 2021
Journal Article

Drinking to Cope Moderates the Efficacy of Changing Veteran Drinking Norms as a Strategy for Reducing Drinking and Alcohol-Related Problems Among U.S. Veterans

This study is a secondary data analysis that evaluated whether a PNF intervention would work better at reducing perceived norms, drinking, and alcohol-related problems specifically for young adult veterans who drink to cope with negative affect.

Jan 6, 2021
Journal Article

Sustaining an Evidence-Based Program Over Time: Moderators of Sustainability and the Role of the Getting to Outcomes® Implementation Support Intervention

This randomized controlled trial advances the literature by testing the effects of Getting To Outcomes, an after-school evidence-based program for preventing substance use among middle-school students.

Jan 5, 2021
Journal Article

Assessment of Filled Buprenorphine Prescriptions for Opioid Use Disorder During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Retail buprenorphine sales for opioid addiction plateau during COVID-19 pandemic amidst sharp declines in total prescription sales.

Dec 30, 2020
Report

Clinical Interventions for Adults with Comorbid Alcohol Use and Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

The authors synthesize evidence on the effects and compare the effectiveness of clinical interventions for improving symptoms of adults with co-occurring alcohol use and depressive disorders.

Dec 30, 2020
Tool

How to Integrate Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol Use at Your Mental Health Clinic

RAND researchers provide a toolkit to support the delivery of effective, evidence-based pharmacotherapy for clients with co-occurring alcohol use disorder and simplify care implementation in mental health clinics.

Dec 4, 2020
Commentary

Being Mindful About Changing Psychedelic Policy in California

The question for California isn't really if psychedelic policy will change, but more likely how—and how quickly. Now is the time for the California State Legislature to consider holding hearings on psychedelics and creating a commission to assess regulatory options.

Nov 10, 2020
Essay

There's Help for Veterans with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders

Many post-9/11 veterans who have PTSD or depression also struggle with substance use. There are clinically proven treatments to help break the cycle of the co-occurring disorders, but the VA and other facilities need guidance on how to expand and enhance treatment opportunities for these veterans.

Nov 4, 2020
Journal Article

Telehealth Capability Among Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facilities in Counties With High Versus Low COVID-19 Social Distancing

This study aimed to To quantify the availability of telehealth services at substance use treatment facilities in the U.S. at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and determine whether telehealth is available at facilities in counties with the greatest amount of social distancing. Relatively few substance use treatment facilities offered telehealth services at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers and public health officials should do more to support facilities in offering telehealth services.

Nov 3, 2020
Journal Article

Police Officers, Stigma, and the Opioid Epidemic

The goal of this exploratory project is to help fill gaps in the literature by empirically measuring levels of explicit provider-based stigma toward persons who use opioids.

Oct 28, 2020
Blog

Truth Decay, Opioid Settlement Funds, Veterans Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on fighting back against Truth Decay, how to spend opioid settlement funds, China's lack of friends, and more.

Oct 23, 2020
Report

Pitfalls and Potholes: Data Issues to Consider When Analyzing State Opioid Policies, September 14, 2020

This webinar focused on data dimensions that researchers should keep in mind when conducting analyses of state opioid policies and when seeking to draw conclusions from other studies.

Oct 21, 2020
Journal Article

Changes in Adult Alcohol Use and Consequences During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US

A national longitudinal survey of 1,540 adults ages 30-80 in 2019 and 2020 shows that people drank more frequently, and for women in particular, more heavily and with more negative consequences, during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oct 16, 2020
Journal Article

A Mixed-Method Comparison of Physician-Reported Beliefs About and Barriers to Treatment with Medications for Opioid Use Disorder

We conducted a mixed-methods study that involved focus group interviews and an online survey disseminated to a random group of licensed U.S. physicians, which oversampled physicians with a preexisting waiver to prescribe buprenorphine.

Oct 13, 2020
Blog

How Russia Targets U.S. Elections, Black Workers and COVID-19, TikTok: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how Russia targets U.S. elections, Americans' increased alcohol consumption during the pandemic, Black workers and COVID-19, and more.

Oct 2, 2020
News Release

Alcohol Consumption Rises Sharply During the Pandemic; Heavy Drinking by Women Rises 41%

American adults have sharply increased their alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 shutdown, with women increasing their heavy-drinking episodes (four or more drinks within a couple of hours) by 41 percent.

Sep 29, 2020

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Next

RAND Topic:
Substance Use

Topic Synonyms:
Drug Use

Research conducted by