Panel:
Supply Side Policies for Reducing Opioid Abuse
(Crime and Drugs)
Friday, November 4, 2016: 10:15 AM-11:45 AM
Embassy (Washington Hilton)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
Panel Organizers: David Powell, RAND Corporation
Panel Chairs: David Powell, RAND Corporation
Discussants: Melinda J. Beeuwkes Buntin, Vanderbilt University and Andrew Mulcahy, RAND Corporation
This panel discusses the efficacy and consequences of policies designed to curb opioid abuse through restricting access to abusable opioids. Drug overdose deaths have increased dramatically over the last 15 years and opioids are a primary driver of this rise. Many policies, including prescription drug monitoring programs and promotion of abuse-deterrent opioids, have been designed to reduce diversion of opioids to nonmedical use with varying results. This panel discusses several measures of opioid abuse and other harms using techniques from a range of disciplines to understand the potential of supply side policies to reduce opioid-related substance abuse and mortality. In particular, the papers study the benefits of prescription drug monitoring programs to restrict access of opioids for medical purposes only. The panel also includes work on the consequences of OxyContin reformulation, which represented a significant change in the availability of abusable opioids. The papers use a wide range of publicly-available and administrative data to quantify the effects of these policies. The research also include policy discussions about the future of supply side opioid policies.
