An increasing number of U.S. states are implementing or considering alternative policies to the prohibition of some psychedelic substances for nonclinical purposes. The authors present new data and analysis to inform these discussions with survey results on the use of 11 psychedelic substances and detailed information about the prevalence of microdosing (i.e., taking a fraction of a full dose, often on a schedule) for psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA.
In this study, part of RAND's Gun Policy in America initiative, researchers systematically review the scientific literature that has examined the likely effects of various gun laws. In the fifth edition of this study, the authors incorporate more-recent research in their synthesis of the available scientific data regarding the effects of 18 state firearm policies on firearm injuries and deaths, violent crime, suicides, the gun industry, defensive gun use, and other outcomes. By highlighting where scientific evidence is accumulating, the authors hope to build consensus around a shared set of facts that have been established through a transparent, nonpartisan, and impartial review process. In so doing, they also illuminate areas in which more and better information could make important contributions to establishing fair and effective gun policies.
Although progress in biological sciences and technologies will offer more opportunities to improve human well-being in the coming decades, this progress may also lower barriers that are blocking bad actors from engineering pathogens to cause destruction. In severe cases, the harms of future biological attacks may approach the magnitudes of the worst plagues of history-from the devastation wrought by the Black Death to the epidemics that decimated Mesoamerican societies after initial European contact. In this study, the authors offer initial frameworks for thinking about how the United States could achieve resilience against three biological threat scenarios: (1) a fast scenario, challenging countermeasures with a rapidly spreading outbreak of a lethal human-to-human-transmissible pathogen; (2) a silent scenario, challenging detection with a pathogen that infects much of the population before infected people display visible symptoms; and (3) a saturating scenario, challenging countermeasures involving a pathogen that replicates and persists in the environment. The authors recommend actions that governments and civil society can take to work toward resilience, including more in-depth research to better understand these scenarios and possible defenses.
Concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) might enable pathogen design are increasing, but risks and timelines remain unclear. In this study, the authors present findings from a Delphi study designed to assess the near-term limits of AI-enabled biological design (AIxBio). Rather than forecasting specific risks, the authors' central objective was to identify which biological and AI-related constraints might serve as hard or persistent barriers to this specific misuse. To do so, they conducted two parallel Delphi elicitations, engaging experts in biology and AI to independently and comparatively evaluate the limits that each field faces. The authors asked participants in the study to assess the validity and applicability of a set of proposed constraints within the near-term future (from 2025 to 2027). The constraints included biological trade-offs, such as transmissibility and environmental stability, and technical challenges in data availability and AI model generalization. The overarching goal of this study is to inform policy and risk analysis by clarifying which scenarios fall outside the plausible envelope of near-future capabilities and which will remain impossible indefinitely. By focusing on what might be impossible or unlikely, this research can help refine the scope of biosecurity planning and improve the signal-to-noise ratio in discussions about AIxBio.
This study documents the second phase of a project undertaken by the Australian Dental Council (ADC) to develop a framework for understanding and evaluating the impact of its dental education program-accreditation activities. This research builds on a first phase in which an impact framework, as well as a logic model undergirding it, were developed. The second phase captures and elevates key stakeholders' perspectives around the ADC's accreditation activities and proposed logic model for generating impact in greater detail. The applicability of the ADC's impact mechanisms, specified in the first research phase, is also examined. The authors developed recommendations for how these impact mechanisms can be leveraged in light of stakeholder perceptions and feedback so that the ADC can improve its impact according to its strategic and accreditation objectives that are aligned with public health outcomes.
