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1 / 50#50. Judith Basin County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 1.2 per 100 people
--- 97.4% lower than state average
--- 97.2% lower than national average
Counties where the most opioids are dispensed in Montana
When Purdue Pharma first began sales of OxyContin in the late 1990s, it was advertised as relief for cancer patients and people with chronic pain. Aggressive marketing fueled the drug's popularity, along with that of other opioid pain management drugs on the market. But as the company touted OxyContin to physicians, it downplayed the drug's addictiveness, according to confidential Justice Department reports obtained by news organizations, leading to widespread use that has fueled an opioid epidemic across the U.S.
More than 645,000 people have died from opioid-related overdoses between 1999 and 2021, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Provisional data shows just under 80,000 people died in 2022 alone.
Opioid prescriptions have decreased dramatically over the past decade as physicians and public health officials learned about the dangers of OxyContin and other opioids prescribed for pain management. In 2020, the most recent year with data available, the national opioid dispense rate reached 43.3 per 100 people, the lowest rate ever recorded.
A 2022 study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that counties with higher dispensing rates had more cases of opioid misuse and dependence. The study suggested that reducing prescriptions at the local level can lower a community's rate of opioid abuse or misuse.
Other studies, however, have suggested that decreasing prescriptions may have fueled a new phase of the opioid epidemic: the rise of synthetics like fentanyl. In 2020, synthetics accounted for 82% of all opioid deaths.
It's also important to note that, as awareness has grown about the dangers of dispensing opioid prescription painkillers, more health care professionals are also prescribing medications like Suboxone–which contains buprenorphine and naloxone—for the treatment of addiction and opioid use disorders. While Suboxone is also an opioid medication, it works differently than typical opioid painkillers, blocking the effects of more powerful and addictive opioids to deter intentional misuse.
Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ophelia broke down counties in every state with the highest opioid dispense rates. In the case of a tie, the county with the higher population and higher raw number is ranked higher. Data was available for 98% of counties in the United States. Overall in Montana, the opioid dispensing rate was 46.1 per 100 people, compared to 43.3 nationally.
Read the national story for additional historical context and see where other counties outside of Montana stand.
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2 / 50#49. Powder River County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 1.4 per 100 people
--- 97.0% lower than state average
--- 96.8% lower than national average
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3 / 50#48. Sheridan County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 1.9 per 100 people
--- 95.9% lower than state average
--- 95.6% lower than national average
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4 / 50#47. Wheatland County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 3.7 per 100 people
--- 92.0% lower than state average
--- 91.5% lower than national average
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5 / 50#46. Fallon County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 5.3 per 100 people
--- 88.5% lower than state average
--- 87.8% lower than national average
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6 / 50#45. Big Horn County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 9.0 per 100 people
--- 80.5% lower than state average
--- 79.2% lower than national average
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7 / 50#44. Madison County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 9.4 per 100 people
--- 79.6% lower than state average
--- 78.3% lower than national average
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8 / 50#43. Garfield County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 9.6 per 100 people
--- 79.2% lower than state average
--- 77.8% lower than national average
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9 / 50#42. Liberty County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 10.1 per 100 people
--- 78.1% lower than state average
--- 76.7% lower than national average
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10 / 50#41. Blaine County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 11.9 per 100 people
--- 74.2% lower than state average
--- 72.5% lower than national average
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11 / 50#40. Sweet Grass County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 13.0 per 100 people
--- 71.8% lower than state average
--- 70.0% lower than national average
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12 / 50#39. Carbon County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 13.0 per 100 people
--- 71.8% lower than state average
--- 70.0% lower than national average
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13 / 50#38. Broadwater County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 13.1 per 100 people
--- 71.6% lower than state average
--- 69.7% lower than national average
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14 / 50#37. Rosebud County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 13.6 per 100 people
--- 70.5% lower than state average
--- 68.6% lower than national average
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15 / 50#36. Teton County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 14.6 per 100 people
--- 68.3% lower than state average
--- 66.3% lower than national average
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16 / 50#35. Jefferson County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 15.3 per 100 people
--- 66.8% lower than state average
--- 64.7% lower than national average
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17 / 50#34. Chouteau County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 15.4 per 100 people
--- 66.6% lower than state average
--- 64.4% lower than national average
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18 / 50#33. Glacier County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 17.3 per 100 people
--- 62.5% lower than state average
--- 60.0% lower than national average
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19 / 50#32. Richland County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 17.8 per 100 people
--- 61.4% lower than state average
--- 58.9% lower than national average
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20 / 50#31. Granite County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 18.5 per 100 people
--- 59.9% lower than state average
--- 57.3% lower than national average
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21 / 50#30. Prairie County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 18.6 per 100 people
--- 59.7% lower than state average
--- 57.0% lower than national average
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22 / 50#29. Valley County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 18.7 per 100 people
--- 59.4% lower than state average
--- 56.8% lower than national average
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23 / 50#28. Mccone County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 23.3 per 100 people
--- 49.5% lower than state average
--- 46.2% lower than national average
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24 / 50#27. Stillwater County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 24.6 per 100 people
--- 46.6% lower than state average
--- 43.2% lower than national average
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25 / 50#26. Mineral County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 25.0 per 100 people
--- 45.8% lower than state average
--- 42.3% lower than national average
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26 / 50#25. Musselshell County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 25.9 per 100 people
--- 43.8% lower than state average
--- 40.2% lower than national average
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27 / 50#24. Roosevelt County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 26.0 per 100 people
--- 43.6% lower than state average
--- 40.0% lower than national average
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28 / 50#23. Park County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 28.0 per 100 people
--- 39.3% lower than state average
--- 35.3% lower than national average
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29 / 50#22. Gallatin County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 29.2 per 100 people
--- 36.7% lower than state average
--- 32.6% lower than national average
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30 / 50#21. Dawson County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 29.4 per 100 people
--- 36.2% lower than state average
--- 32.1% lower than national average
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31 / 50#20. Hill County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 30.2 per 100 people
--- 34.5% lower than state average
--- 30.3% lower than national average
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32 / 50#19. Ravalli County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 31.0 per 100 people
--- 32.8% lower than state average
--- 28.4% lower than national average
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33 / 50#18. Fergus County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 32.6 per 100 people
--- 29.3% lower than state average
--- 24.7% lower than national average
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34 / 50#17. Beaverhead County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 34.1 per 100 people
--- 26.0% lower than state average
--- 21.2% lower than national average
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35 / 50#16. Meagher County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 34.4 per 100 people
--- 25.4% lower than state average
--- 20.6% lower than national average
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36 / 50#15. Lake County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 39.5 per 100 people
--- 14.3% lower than state average
--- 8.8% lower than national average
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37 / 50#14. Phillips County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 41.3 per 100 people
--- 10.4% lower than state average
--- 4.6% lower than national average
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38 / 50#13. Pondera County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 43.1 per 100 people
--- 6.5% lower than state average
--- 0.5% lower than national average
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39 / 50#12. Sanders County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 44.2 per 100 people
--- 4.1% lower than state average
--- 2.1% higher than national average
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40 / 50#11. Lewis And Clark County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 44.7 per 100 people
--- 3.0% lower than state average
--- 3.2% higher than national average
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41 / 50#10. Silver Bow County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 51.4 per 100 people
--- 11.5% higher than state average
--- 18.7% higher than national average
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42 / 50#9. Deer Lodge County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 52.7 per 100 people
--- 14.3% higher than state average
--- 21.7% higher than national average
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43 / 50#8. Powell County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 55.7 per 100 people
--- 20.8% higher than state average
--- 28.6% higher than national average
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44 / 50#7. Lincoln County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 56.1 per 100 people
--- 21.7% higher than state average
--- 29.6% higher than national average
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45 / 50#6. Cascade County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 56.8 per 100 people
--- 23.2% higher than state average
--- 31.2% higher than national average
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46 / 50#5. Missoula County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 59.2 per 100 people
--- 28.4% higher than state average
--- 36.7% higher than national average
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47 / 50#4. Flathead County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 66.1 per 100 people
--- 43.4% higher than state average
--- 52.7% higher than national average
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48 / 50#3. Yellowstone County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 68.1 per 100 people
--- 47.7% higher than state average
--- 57.3% higher than national average
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49 / 50#2. Custer County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 77.7 per 100 people
--- 68.5% higher than state average
--- 79.4% higher than national average
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50 / 50#1. Toole County
- Opioid dispensing rate: 110.3 per 100 people
--- 139.3% higher than state average
--- 154.7% higher than national average
