HELENA — State officials say Montana’s decade-long battle against opioid abuse is showing progress.
A report released Wednesday shows that from 2012 to 2017 Montana physicians prescribed fewer and less powerful doses of opioids. The number of people on high doses also declined.
The report says that while Montana’s overall overdose death rate has remained relatively stable, the number of deaths attributed to opioids has been declining.
Gov. Steve Bullock and others say Montana is ahead of the curve because it began addressing opioid addiction in 2008. Since then, the state has implemented a prescription drug registry, prescription drug drop-off locations and increased access to substance abuse treatment.
In 2017, the legislature passed a law allowing anyone to get naloxone — which reverses the effects of an opioid overdose — without a prescription.