Opioid prescribing is falling in the us, but not everywhere

By Mike Stobbe
Wire Service Correspondent
NEW YORK (AP) — Overall opioid prescription rates have been falling in recent years, but the powerful drugs have become more plentiful in more than than 1 in 5 U.S. counties, a report released last week finds.
The amount of opioids prescribed fell 18 percent between 2010 and 2015. But researchers found local differences, with opioid prescribing six times higher in some counties than others.
Rates vary “as much from place to place as the weath