Below are the most recent reports and articles from the RAND Drug Policy Research Center. Please visit our RAND Topics pages for a complete research archive on these and other drug policy-related research topics.
RAND Topic Pages: Substance UseIn the six jurisdictions with the highest rate of opioid-related mortality in 2016, the most prominent barrier to accessing buprenorphine treatment was the difficulty of finding clinicians.
Addressing mental health in primary care may be important for decreasing alcohol problems in adolescents.
The growing use of medication treatment for opioid use disorder in the West Virginia Medicaid expansion population provides an opportunity to reduce overdose deaths.
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.
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.
The relationship between business cycles and health is theoretically complex. In a seminal paper, Ruhm (2000) outlined a series of economic mechanisms through which business cycles may influence health.
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.
This paper assesses community perceptions of crime and the police before and after the implementation of an intervention aimed at eliminating overt drug markets through focused deterrence and police-community partnerships emphasizing racial reconciliation.
This study examines the associations between college attendance and subsequent alcohol and marijuana use behaviors at multiple ages during young adulthood and adulthood, while rigorously controlling for baseline differences by college type.
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.
Lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults report higher rates of smoking and alcohol use than heterosexual peers. Prior studies have not examined whether disparities in early initiation among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth contribute to adult disparities.
Understanding effects of cannabis laws requires greater attention to differences in short- versus long-term effects of the laws, nuances of policies and patterns of consumption, and careful consideration of appropriate control groups.
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.
RAND researchers analyzed the formulas for distributing funds to states under three block grants for services related to mental health, substance abuse, and homelessness (unchanged since 1992) to determine whether they should be modified.
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.
This study highlights factors that affect Community Health Centers' ability to reduce infectious disease transmission related to the opioid epidemic. The emphasis is on rural areas, which have suffered disproportionately from the opioid epidemic and lack resources to address the complex social and medical issues related to opioid use, opioid use disorder, and risk for infectious diseases.
Testimony presented before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism and Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations, on July 25, 2019.
Document submitted on August 19, 2019, as an addendum to testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism and Subcommittee on Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations on July 25, 2019.
To realize the gains envisioned by recent legislation, the Administration and Congress should prioritize additional funding to modernize our child welfare system to meet the unique needs of families affected by substance misuse.
This article explores variation in pharmacy-dispensed naloxone by prescriber specialty and patient characteristics.
