Substance Abuse: Alcohol, Drugs, and Tobacco
RAND Corporation research on substance abuse began in the mid-1970s when we conducted the first national study of the course of alcoholism after treatment. Today RAND researchers are tackling an extensive and diverse set of issues, from how best to prevent youth from using drugs, alcohol, and tobacco to understanding substance abuse when it is complicated by co-occurring disorders. A sampling of our current work is provided here.
Profiles of Current Research
Highlights of Recent Studies
Teens Who Work Are More Likely to Smoke
A strong link exists between working and smoking among tenth-grade teens.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Issues Among People with HIV: Lessons from HCSUS
New findings from the HIV Costs and Services Utilization Study (HCSUS) shed light on the prevalence of mental health and substance abuse problems for persons with HIV, access to appropriate care, and ability to adhere to treatment.
New Perspectives on Marijuana and Youth: Abstainers Are Not Maladjusted, but Lone Users Face Difficulties
Although some consider experimenting with marijuana normal behavior for adolescents, those adolescents who abstain are not maladjusted as others have reported.
Using Outcomes to Assess Teen Substance-Use Treatment Programs—How Feasible?
Using outcome data to assess adolescent substance abuse treatment program performance may be problematic; a more promising approach may be to identify quality-of-care indicators for assessing performance.
Using the "Getting To Outcomes™" Approach to Help Communities Prevent Underage Drinking
RAND researchers developed guides to provide key accountability questions, worksheets, tools, and examples to help communities plan, implement, and evaluate their efforts to reduce and prevent underage drinking.
Getting To Outcomes™: Improving Community-Based Substance-Use Prevention.
A science-based model and support tools to help local groups develop or improve substance-use-prevention programs.
Forging the Link Between Alcohol Advertising and Underage Drinking
A much stronger connection exists between alcohol ads and youth drinking than previously shown, but participation in a school-based drug prevention program can counteract the impact of alcohol ads.
Related Web Sites
The BRIGHT Project (Building Recovery by Improving Goals, Habits, & Thoughts)
http://www.rand.org/health/projects/bright/
RAND Drug Policy Research Center
Project ALERT
Empowering Community Coalitions to Prevent Substance Abuse
Healthcare for Communities
http://www.hsrcenter.ucla.edu/research/hcc.shtml
UCLA/RAND Center for Adolescent Health Promotion
HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study
Working with Congress
RAND's Washington Office of Congressional Relations (OCR) furthers RAND's mission to provide objective analysis and effective solutions by disseminating research results to Congress and federal agencies. The OCR publishes a monthly electronic newsletter featuring current work on health policy. Contact: Shirley Ruhe (Shirley_Ruhe@rand.org) or Kristy Anderson (kristy@rand.org).
The RAND Health Congressional Newsletter
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