The national drug crisis-what have we learned from the regional science disciplines?

Abstract

Brian Cushing’s Presidential Address for the Southern Regional Science Association (Cushing, 2017) detailed the U.S. drug crisis, including the high cost in terms of lost lives and financial costs. After determining almost no participation in drug crisis research by the regional science community, he charged regional scientists to learn about the crisis and become part of the discussion. In the few years since that address, the drug crisis has continued to accelerate. This time, however, regional science scholars have stepped up to conduct research and become part of the policy discussions. We update Cushing’s (2017) discussion with new details regarding the worsening crisis. We then document and discuss the “regional science” contributions to the ongoing drug crisis literature. We finish with thoughts regarding what regional scientists doing research on the drug crisis should consider going forward.