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: Underage Substance UseDepression appears to reduce the effect of peer influence on marijuana use among adolescents participating in two separate studies.
Adolescents at risk for alcohol or other drug use and poor mental health are most likely to benefit from a brief intervention delivered in primary care.
After recreational marijuana laws were passed, perceived harm associated with marijuana use decreased among students in 8th and 10th grades in Washington state and use increased; neither perception nor use changed in Colorado after legalization.
Adaptive interventions (AIs) - sequences of decision rules for altering treatment based on an individual's needs - would benefit substance abuse treatment for adolescents.
This study found two correlates to an evidence-based measure of substance use treatment (A-CRA) implementation.
Adolescents who use electronic cigarettes may engage in fewer risky behaviors than their tobacco smoking peers, but their physical health and engagement in protective health behaviors is not necessarily any better.
Two composite assessments of quality - one with treatment staffing and delivery elements and the other with clinical supervision elements - can be used to measure the sustainment of evidence-based treatment.
State actions to relax marijuana policies vary substantially, making it difficult to compare policies and draw conclusions about user and market reactions.
Graphic antismoking posters in places where cigarettes are sold may have the unintended effect of increasing cigarette smoking susceptibility among adolescents already at risk.
Providers' ability to sustain A-CRA programming beyond initial implementation support depended on factors such as the level of implementation success, staff perceptions toward the intervention, funding stability, and community support.
The cannabis-policy landscape is undergoing dramatic change. Although many jurisdictions have removed criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of cannabis and more than half of U.S. states allow physicians to recommend it to patients, legalizing the supply and possession of cannabis for nonmedical purposes is a very different public policy.
Developing a series of strategies and tools to reach homeless youth makes it possible to conduct research with and provide outreach to this at-risk yet hard-to-reach population.
Perceived injunctive norms (i.e., what behaviors peers find acceptable) should be targeted in prevention programs with youth because these perceptions are associated with multiple drinking outcomes, such as heavy drinking.
Treatment-seeking for substance use disorders among adolescents is more effective at promoting engagement with health care if the motivation comes from the adolescent him/herself rather than from a caregiver.
Evidence suggests some health benefits for medical marijuana; however, initiation of marijuana use during adolescence is a risk factor for problem marijuana use later in life.
This study explored the process of adoption and implementation of a school-based drug and alcohol prevention program, Project ALERT, in the country of Chile.
High school students who mixed alcohol with energy drinks were more likely to report drinking often and heavily and to experience negative consequences in school than students who did not.
A Maine-based trial of a Restorative Practices Intervention will assess whether a positive youth development program improves developmental outcomes and stems problem behaviors in middle schoolers, and whether the effects persist in high school.
Better understanding how American Indian/Alaska Native youth negotiate cultural identity in urban settings can help with the design of culturally appropriate alcohol and other drug use interventions.
We analyzed baseline survey data collected in 2013-2014 from a sample of 1,270 9th graders in low-income neighborhoods of Los Angeles and examined factors associated with grit.
