More than 67,300 Americans died from a drug-involved overdose in 2018, including illicit drugs and prescription opioids. The estimated economic burden is staggering—nearly $500 billion annually, more than the government spends on healthcare for the poor each year. Successfully combating the evolving crisis will require meeting unprecedented demands on our public health, health care, public safety, law enforcement, and criminal justice systems.
The RAND-USC Schaeffer Opioid Policy Tools and Information Center (OPTIC) is playing a prominent role in this struggle. OPTIC’s mission is to be a national resource, fostering innovative research in opioid policy science, and developing and disseminating methods, tools, and information to the research community, policymakers, and other stakeholders. The work of the Center focuses on policy effects at multiple levels, the health care consequences of opioid misuse, and treatment access and effectiveness.
OPTIC is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (P50DA046351) and is a collaborative effort with the RAND Corporation.
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