Opioid Prescribing Rates and Criminal Justice and Health Outcomes

This brief uses California’s CURES (Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System) 2.0 data to analyze county-level opioid prescribing rates in California from 2012 to 2017 from multiple perspectives. The book summarizes California’s county-level opioid prescribing trends, examines potential correlates of opioid prescribing rates, and assesses the association of opioid prescribing on both criminal justice and public health outcomes. Finally, the authors discuss their principal findings and the implications for policy and practice, including the significant and lasting consequences of the opioid crisis on the criminal justice system and the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach to effectively address the crisis.