The California Department of Justice maintains a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) known as the Controlled Substance Utilization, Review and Evaluation System (CURES); a database of Schedule II, III and IV controlled substance prescriptions dispensed in California serving public health, regulatory oversight, and law enforcement agencies.  Click Here to Access the California Department of Justice CURES Website. 

Morphine Milligram Equivalents (MME) are values assigned to different types of opioids, such as codeine and hydrocodone, to represent their relative potencies. MME is determined by using an equivalency factor specific to each type of opioid in order to calculate an equivalent dose of morphine. Buprenorphine was excluded from calculations as it is most commonly used as a Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorders.  Methadone MAT was not excluded from calculations, as Methadone is a frequent factor in opioid overdose.

Together we can! Healthy Living in Butte County is using data derived from the CURES database to track the levels of MME prescribed to Butte County residents per capita on an annual basis.  This allows comparison of the MME prescribed per capita in Butte County to the MME prescribed per capita nationally, with the goal of reducing our MME prescribed per capita levels to national levels.

Butte County data is represented by the black lines within the graph as compared to National data (red line/target) collected within the same timeframes. 

*The National Average MME per capita levels used for comparison with Butte County MME per capita levels were taken from: Guy GP Jr., Zhang K, Bohm MK, et al. Vital Signs: Changes in Opioid Prescribing in the United States, 2006–2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2017;66:697–704. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volum...