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Montana Endorses CDC Opioid Guidelines

Montana’s Justice Department joined 35 other states this week in support of guidelines aiming to reduce prescription drug addiction.

Montana kids have the third-highest rate of prescription drug abuse in the country, so Attorney General Tim Fox says it made sense for the state to be among those endorsing the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s proposed guidelines for prescribing opioids.

“We want to make sure that Montanans and Americans that need these opioid drugs for acute and chronic pain get them, but we need, obviously, to take some steps to make sure people don’t get addicted.”

Fox says a little over five percent of Montana teens, and 16 percent of high school students, have used prescription drugs they didn’t have a script for.

Montana’s Department of Justice works with doctors and pharmacists to deal with this issue, Fox says.

The CDC’s proposed guidelines have recommendations on when to take opioids, drug selection and dosage and how to understand the risks of opioid use.

There isn’t yet a timeline for when those guidelines would be put in place.

Fox recommends Montana Medical Association website,  Know Your Dose, as a good start for someone who wants to learn more about the prescription drug issues Montana.

Corin Cates-Carney manages MTPR’s daily and long-term news projects. After spending more than five years living and reporting across Western and Central Montana, he became news director in early 2020.
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