Parties
Trends in LSD Use among US Adults: 2015-2018
Andrew Yockey, Rebecca Vidourek & Keith King
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, forthcoming
Methods: A secondary analysis of the 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health was conducted on 168,562 adults ages 18 and older.
Results: Past-year LSD use increased 56.4% (p < .0001) from 2015-2018. The proportion of LSD users ages 26-34 increased from 19.6% to 31.1% (p < .0001), ages 35-49 increased from 2.73% to 8.82% (p < .0001) and 50 years or older increased from 1.83% to 2.66% (p < .0001). LSD use among bisexual individuals increased from 11.2% to 13.0% (p < .0001). LSD use among individuals with a college degree or more increased from 18.2% to 31.1% (p < .0001). Significant decreases in LSD use were present in individuals who were multi-racial (p < .0001), less than high school education p < .0001), high school education (p < .001), and perceived great risk of drugs (p < .0001).
Trends in U.S. women’s binge drinking in middle adulthood by socioeconomic status, 2006–2018
Sarah McKetta & Katherine Keyes
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, forthcoming
Methods: We examined trends in binge drinking using nationally-representative National Health Interview Surveys (2006–2018) for women age 30-49 (N = 63,426), by education (< high school, high school, some college, college, >college) and family income (< 100%, 100-199%, 200-399%, and >400% of poverty line), controlling for age and race.
Results: The odds of binge drinking increased among all women approximately 7% annually from 2006-2018. The magnitude of the change increased with education; the predicted probability of binge drinking among women at lowest levels of education increased from 10% to 13% from 2006-2018 (adjusted OR [AOR] 1.02, 95% CI 0.99, 1.04), and those with the highest education from 13% to 32% (AOR 1.10, 95% CI 1.08–1.12). Women at the lowest income increased binge drinking from 12% to 16% (AOR 1.03, 95% CI 1.01–1.05) and highest income from 17% to 36% (AOR 1.09, 95% CI 1.07–1.10). Interactions between education (, p < 0.001) and income (, p < 0.001) with time confirmed slope differences.
State Policies That Treat Prenatal Substance Use As Child Abuse Or Neglect Fail To Achieve Their Intended Goals
Danielle Atkins & Christine Piette Durrance
Health Affairs, May 2020, Pages 756-763
Abstract:
The US is experiencing a complex substance abuse crisis. Not only has opioid overdose mortality increased sharply, by 400 percent from 1999 to 2017, but opioid use during pregnancy contributed to a 300 percent increase in neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS)—a postnatal drug withdrawal syndrome in infants that is identified at birth—from 1999 to 2013. States have taken myriad policy approaches to combat the opioid crisis and its consequences, and some states have adopted punitive policies toward prenatal substance use. Using data for the period 2000–14 from the State Inpatient Databases of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, this study examined the effect of state-level policies that treat prenatal substance use as child abuse or neglect on the incidence of NAS, maternal narcotic exposure, and substance use treatment admissions for pregnant women. We employed a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the effect of these policies. We did not find evidence that punitive prenatal substance use policies reduced NAS or maternal narcotic exposure at birth; however, we did find evidence that these policies may deter women from seeking substance use treatment during pregnancy. Policy makers might reconsider the efficacy of punitive policies and investigate increasing access to and reducing the cost of treatment for pregnant and parenting women.
The Effect of Changes in Alcohol Tax Differentials on Alcohol Consumption
Markus Gehrsitz, Henry Saffer & Michael Grossman
NBER Working Paper, May 2020
Abstract:
We show that tax-induced increases in alcohol prices can lead to substantial substitution and avoidance behavior that limits reductions in alcohol consumption. Causal estimates are derived from a natural experiment in Illinois where spirits and wine taxes were raised sharply and unexpectedly in 2009. Beer taxes were increased by only a trivial amount. We construct representative and consistent measures of alcohol prices and sales from scanner data collected for hundreds of products in several thousand stores across the US. Using several differences-in-differences models, we show that alcohol excise taxes are instantly over-shifted by a factor of up to 1.5. Consumers react by switching to less expensive products and increase purchases of low-tax alcoholic beverages, thus all but offsetting any moderate, tax-induced reductions in total ethanol consumption. Our study highlights the importance of tax-induced substitution, the implications of differential tax increases by beverage group and the impacts on public health of alternative types of tax hikes whose main aims are to increase revenue.
Cigarette Taxes and Smoking in the Long Run
Andrew Friedson & Daniel Rees
NBER Working Paper, May 2020
Abstract:
Researchers have focused on the contemporaneous relationship between cigarette taxes and smoking, while the longer-run effects of cigarette taxes have received little attention. Using individual-level panel data from 1970-2017, we estimate the effects of cigarette taxes experienced as a teenager on smoking later in life. We find that a one-dollar increase in the cigarette tax experienced between the ages of 12 and 17 is associated with substantial reductions in smoking participation and intensity among adults in their 20s through mid-60s. Among first-time mothers, it is associated with a reduction in the likelihood of smoking the year of giving birth.
Smoking to Cope: Addictive Behavior as a Response to Mental Distress
Abigail Friedman
Journal of Health Economics, forthcoming
Abstract:
Individuals with mental health problems smoke at far higher rates than their peers, and have done for decades. This paper explores a potential explanation: smoking as a means to cope with distress. The proposed “coping response” framework is assessed by analyzing how adolescents respond to two events known to trigger acute mental distress: violent crime victimization and death of a non-family member the respondent felt close to. Consistent with a coping response, these shocks yield statistically significant increases in first cigarette use, recent smoking, and daily smoking, with greater initiation responses among those who are depressed at baseline, and dampened responsiveness among those facing higher cigarette taxes. Back-of-the-envelope estimates suggest that differential responsiveness to adverse events by baseline depression explains 5% of first cigarette use in this sample, and almost a third of the gap in adolescent smoking initiation between those in the highest and lowest tercile of depression scores.
Effects of Recreational Marijuana Legalization on College Students: A Longitudinal Study of Attitudes, Intentions, and Use Behaviors
Anna Barker & Megan Moreno
Journal of Adolescent Health, forthcoming
Methods: Survey data assessing marijuana attitudes, intentions, and use behavior were collected from 2011 to 2016 on a longitudinal cohort of 338 students at two large public universities in Washington and Wisconsin. Time series analyses were conducted to evaluate postlegalization changes in ever use, 28-day use, and mean attitude and intention-to-use scores in Washington state, using Wisconsin participants as the control group.
Results: Ever use, attitude, and intention-to-use scores did not change significantly more in Washington after legalization than in Wisconsin. However, among prior users, the proportion using in the last 28 days rose faster in Washington after legalization that it did in Wisconsin (p < .001).
Smoking Behavior in Low- and High-Income Adults Immediately Following California Proposition 56 Tobacco Tax Increase
Courtney Keeler et al.
American Journal of Public Health, June 2020, Pages 868-870
Objectives: To compare the association of California Proposition 56 (Prop 56), which increased the cigarette tax by $2 per pack beginning on April 1, 2017, with smoking behavior among low- and high-income adults.
Methods: Drawing on a sample of 17 206 low-income and 21 324 high-income adults aged 21 years or older from the 2012 to 2018 California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data, we explored 2 outcomes: current smoking prevalence and smoking intensity (average number of cigarettes per day among current smokers). For each income group, we estimated a multivariable logistic regression to analyze the association of Prop 56 with smoking prevalence and a multivariable linear regression to analyze the association of Prop 56 with smoking intensity.
Results: Although we observed no association between smoking intensity and Prop 56, we found a statistically significant decline in smoking prevalence among low-income adults following Prop 56. No such association was found among the high-income group.
Spillover Effects of Job Skills Training on Substance Misuse Among Low-Income Youths With Employment Barriers: A Longitudinal Cohort Study
Sehun Oh, Diana DiNitto & Daniel Powers
American Journal of Public Health, June 2020, Pages 900-906
Objectives: To examine spillover effects of job skills training (vs basic services only [e.g., adult basic education, job readiness training]) on substance misuse among low-income youths with employment barriers.
Methods: Data came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a longitudinal cohort study of youths born between 1980 and 1984 in the United States. Based on respondents’ reports of substance misuse (past-month binge drinking and past-year marijuana and other illicit drug use) from 2000 to 2016, we estimated substance misuse trajectories of job skills training (n = 317) and basic services (n = 264) groups. We accounted for potential selection bias by using inverse probability of treatment weighting.
Results: Compared with the basic services group, the job skills training group showed notable long-term reductions in its illicit drug misuse trajectory, translating to a 56.9% decrease in prevalence rates from 6.5% in year 0 to 2.8% in year 16.
Unintended costs of a dual regulatory environment: Evidence from state-level cannabis legalization and bank audit fees
James Brushwood, Curtis Hall & Eric Rapley
Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, forthcoming
Abstract:
Since 2014, a number of U.S. states have legalized business activities related to the production, distribution, and use of recreational cannabis. These activities remain illegal at the U.S. federal level, creating a dual regulatory environment. The uncertainty related to the enforcement of federal cannabis laws affects businesses located in legalizing states, particularly federally-insured banks. Applying a difference-in-differences approach to a matched sample of banks in legalizing and non-legalizing states, we document an increase in audit fees incurred by banks located in legalizing states after cannabis legalization. This finding is consistent with increased auditor effort and engagement risk being an unintended consequence of state-level recreational cannabis legalization. In supplemental analysis, we find that the relation between banks’ audit fees and cannabis legalization was greater for banks having larger increases in banking activity, suggesting that audit fees increased primarily for banks that may be engaging in relationships with cannabis-related businesses.
Optimal Regulation of E-cigarettes: Theory and Evidence
Hunt Allcott & Charlie Rafkin
NBER Working Paper, April 2020
Abstract:
We model optimal e-cigarette regulation and estimate key sufficient statistics. Using tax changes and scanner data, we estimate relatively elastic demand and limited substitution between e-cigarettes and combustible cigarettes. In sample surveys, historical smoking declines for high- and low-vaping demographics were unchanged after e-cigarettes were introduced; this demographic shift-share identification also suggests limited substitution. We field a new survey of experts, who report that vaping is almost as harmful as smoking cigarettes. In our model, these results imply that current e-cigarette taxes are far below the social optimum, but Monte Carlo simulations highlight substantial uncertainty.
Opioids, Race, and Drug Enforcement: Exploring Local Relationships Between Neighborhood Context and Black–White Opioid-Related Possession Arrests
Ellen Donnelly et al.
Criminal Justice Policy Review, forthcoming
Abstract:
Opioid abuse has redefined drug problems in communities and shifted police activities to redress substance use. Changing neighborhood context around opioid issues may affect arrests and racial disparities in their imposition. This study presents a spatial analysis of arrests involving Blacks and Whites for possession of heroin, synthetic narcotics, and opium offenses. We identify the ecological conditions associated with opioid-related arrests using geographically weighted regression (GWR) methods that illuminate local patterns by allowing coefficients to vary across space. GWR models reveal spatial and racial differences in opioid-related possession arrest rates. Calls for police service for overdoses increase White arrests in more advantaged, rural communities. Economic disadvantage and racial diversity in neighborhoods more strongly elevate possession arrest rates among Blacks relative to Whites. Overdose calls predict Black arrests in poorer urban areas. Findings underscore police responsiveness to opioid problems and Black–White differences in how opioid users interact with the criminal justice system.