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 UseTelemedicine for treating Substance use disorder (SUD) use is growing steadily among treatment facilities; however, uptake is uneven and relatively low. As such, telemedicine may be an under-utilized tool to expand access to care for patients with SUD.
This study found an increase in the rate of overdose after Medicare Part D coverage began to include benzodiazepines among adults aged 65 to 69 years and 80 years or older and an increase in the rate of fall-related injury in adults 80 years or older.
In this cross-sectional study with random assignment of clinicians and simulated-patient callers, many women, especially pregnant women, faced barriers to accessing treatment. Given the high out-of-pocket costs and lack of acceptance of insurance among many clinicians, access to affordable opioid use disorder treatment is a significant concern.
This review reveals a growing literature on the effects of certain state opioid misuse prevention policies, but persistent gaps in evidence on other prevalent state policies remain.
We review the change over time in state-level policy environments around substance use in pregnancy and contrast the policy response with the principles and guidance from professional societies and federal agencies.
The present study is a first step in understanding the prevalence, types, and correlates of co-use in a probability sample of young tobacco users experiencing homelessness.
The COVID-19 pandemic strikes at a moment when our national response to the opioid crisis was beginning to coalesce. COVID-19 threatens to dramatically overshadow and reverse this progress.
The aim of this study was to characterize ethics consult questions among inpatients with opioid use disorder at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Children with in utero opioid exposure had a predicted probability of being diagnosed with a pediatric complex chronic condition similar to that among children with tobacco exposure and those with neither exposure (20.4%,18.7%, and 20.2%, respectively). Our findings were consistent when we examined a subgroup of opioid-exposed children identified as having neonatal opioid withdrawal symptoms.
This study sheds light on the distribution of buprenorphine-waivered prescribers over the past decade. Growth has been rapid in communities affected by the opioid crisis, but slower in rural communities, and those with lower levels of education.
This brief highlights important treatment, provider, and system factors that organizations that support the behavioral health needs of veterans with co-occurring substance use disorders and mental health disorders should consider.
The national growth in opioid supply explains 75% of the national rise in opioid treatment admissions and the diversion component is a critical driver of the opioid epidemic.
Passage of morphine equivalent daily dose guidelines was associated with significant decreases in high dose opioid prescribing among workers' compensation claimants with chronic non-cancer related pain.
Post-9/11 veterans are at particularly high risk for co-occurring substance use disorders (SUDs) and mental health disorders. Integrated care—in which both SUDs and mental health problems are addressed concurrently—is a recommended form of treatment for these veterans. This report provides guidance and recommendations to support the delivery of quality care for veterans with co-occurring SUDs and mental health disorders.
We conducted a systematic legal review of state laws that mandate or recommend that healthcare providers prescribe naloxone to patients with indicators for opioid overdose risk. By targeting higher-risk patients during clinical encounters, naloxone prescribing requirements could increase naloxone prescribed, destigmatize naloxone use, and reduce overdose harms.
Pregnant women with OUD referred by criminal justice agencies between 1992 and 2017 were consistently less likely to receive evidence-based treatment than women referred through other sources.
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.
This cross-sectional study examines the number of patients prescribed buprenorphine by waivered-clinicians. Evidence shows waivered-clinicians who are able to prescribe buprenorphine treat fewer patients than their limit allows. With so much unmet demand for OUD treatment, this suggests the need for ongoing efforts to address treatment barriers.
Urban Native American teens may benefit from culturally centered programs. No differences found between MICUNAY + Community Wellness Gatherings (CWGs) and CWGs only.
Over half of participants ordered to abstain from substance use complete 24/7 Sobriety without a detected substance use event. At the county level, the program is associated with a 9% reduction in substance-impaired driving arrests.
