RAND Social and Economic Well-Being Commentary

State and Local Policy Is Changing for Psychedelics. What Will the Feds Do?

Psychedelics are attracting interest as a treatment for some mental health conditions. In response, some states and cities are changing their laws and policies on the supply and use of these mind-altering substances. But like cannabis, most psychedelics are federally prohibited—raising some tough questions for the federal government.

Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer, Rajeev Ramchand @RRamchand

We Aren't Helpless in the Face of Increasing Fires and Smoke

Modernizing, better funding, and expanding wildland firefighting forces in North America won't make fires or smoke magically disappear. A massive paradigm shift is necessary. But it's clear something needs to happen immediately too.

Jay Balagna

How Can Platforms Deal with Toxic Content? Look to Wall Street

Social media has a content problem. It's not the content itself, although the list of toxic material is long. The problem is the sheer volume of content. Instead of trusting in self-regulation, the United States could use its regulation of Wall Street after 2008 as a roadmap for regulating tech.

James V. Marrone

Public Health's Failure to Communicate with Communities of Color

Misinformation thrived during the pandemic, exacerbating health inequities. To meet its core mission, the public health field needs to engage more actively, particularly in communities it has historically failed to equitably protect.

Joie D. Acosta

The Changing Landscape of Health Literacy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

With the official public health emergency ended, now is a good time to reflect on the changing landscape of health literacy and consider how we can improve health communication in the future.

Julia Bandini, Lucy B. Schulson, et al.

Mental Health First Aid: Training People to Help Others

An innovative program trains and empowers people to not look away from those experiencing mental illness, but to listen to them, reassure them, and encourage them to get help. Most trainees of the program in New York City were still using what they had learned five years later.

Do Car Companies Know Where Their Critical Minerals Come From?

The initial slate of electric vehicles qualifying for a new federal tax credit was announced in April. Key to eligibility is the source of critical minerals used in their batteries. While the list of acceptable nations of origin is still being worked out, there's an important practical question the IRS should ask: Do carmakers really know where their critical minerals come from?

Tom LaTourrette, Fabian Villalobos @doktor_wolfhaus

Advancing Women's Health Requires Better Evidence

For decades, advances in health and health care have had a bias toward the male body. By shifting the focus of research to women's bodies and building out this base of evidence on women's health, scientists and doctors can improve health outcomes and overall quality of life for women, all while also saving money.

Chloe E. Bird @ChloeBirdPhD

Can China's Green Energy Acceleration Put at Risk the West's Hydrogen Plans?

Hydrogen (H2) plays a key role in the decarbonization plans of the European Union and the United States. Both have launched aggressive hydrogen strategies to increase the generation of H2 and deployment of related technologies. But these bold ambitions may face headwinds due to the acceleration of China's energy transition.

Ismael Arciniegas Rueda, Andrew Star, et al.

Illegal Opioids Are Hurting Too Many of Us. We Need a New Approach

Fatal overdoses are on the rise in the United States, with the proliferation of potent, synthetic opioids like illicit fentanyl. But deaths are just the tip of America's iceberg-sized opioid crisis. To save and improve lives, policymakers will need to take a holistic approach. People who use opioids and their families should be at the heart of this new response.

An Early Warning System for Landslides Protects Sitka, Alaska

A 2015 landslide that killed three people in Sitka, Alaska, changed how residents looked at the steep hills all around them. The community worked with researchers to develop a warning system to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Everyone Over 21 Has a 'License to Drink.' When Should It Get Suspended?

Excessive drinking creates massive economic costs because of its effects on workplace productivity, health care expenditures, and crime. This raises the question: Should some people be required to stop drinking?

Beau Kilmer @BeauKilmer, Nancy Nicosia

Puerto Rico's Food Security Must Factor in Planning Energy Security

The tragedy of disaster recovery has unlocked substantial capital for Puerto Rico to rewrite its interdependent security in energy and food. Considering food security in this context could help to ensure the population has access to both power and food.

Ismael Arciniegas Rueda, Andrew Star, et al.

Ohio's Train Derailment—Not Spy Balloons—Is the Real National Security Threat

The slow degradation of infrastructure and disaster response is less a spectacle than an overflying balloon, but the train derailment and chemical spill in Ohio highlights just how bizarre such a focus on perceived external national security threats has become. The far greater threat may be from within.

Bradley Martin, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg @aclarkginsberg

Preventing Military Sexual Assault Is Important. So Is Getting Mental Health Care Afterward

Despite a decade of scrutiny on the issue, sexual assault and harassment in the military is still a pervasive problem. The effects of the trauma from these assaults can be lasting. So it's not just the military services, but also veterans' services, that need to connect these people to appropriate care for mental health.

Julia Rollison @Julia_Rollison

Earthquake in Turkey, Syria: Insights from RAND Researchers

Thousands of people have been confirmed dead in one the strongest earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria in the past century. As search-and-rescue missions ended and recovery began, a handful of RAND researchers shared some of their initial thoughts.

Senate Bill 9's Underwhelming First Year Shouldn't Be a Surprise; It Was by Design

In 2021, the California state Legislature passed legislation allowing a streamlined pathway for homeowners to produce duplexes and split lots. But a year after the law took effect, the resulting housing production pipeline looks to be trivial. Why has the law that some were convinced would make the sky fall barely registered?

Jason M. Ward @jason_m_ward