Quarterly insights from the RAND Drug Policy Research Center

Emerging Divergence: Drug Policy in Asia

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 the drug policy landscape is shifting in the Philippines, Thailand, and China. Read more »

Photo by AndreyPopov/Getty Images

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.

The drug Naloxone on a table during a free Opioid Overdose Prevention Training class provided by Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, New York, April 5, 2018, photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters

Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters

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.

Photo by Denis Balibouse/Reuters

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.

Used Narcan (naloxone hydrochloride) containers and syringes sit in a case, after paramedics revived a man in his 40s, who was found unresponsive, after overdosing on opioids in Salem, Massachusetts, August 9, 2017, photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters

Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters

(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 opioids 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.