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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Jul 28.
Published in final edited form as: Am Econ J Econ Policy. 2018 Nov;10(4):1–35. doi: 10.1257/pol.20170082

Figure 2: National Trends in Prescription Opioid Use.

Figure 2:

Notes: Rate of OxyContin misuse is the percentage of the population ages 12+ “using OxyContin for nonmedical use” in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). We use the NSDUH Public Use Files individual level data without state-identifiers (available for each year, rather than 2-year waves) to construct the weighted mean rate of OxyContin misuse. Oxycodone doses are from the DEA’s Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS) and have been converted into morphine-equivalent doses per capita. Oxycodone is the primary ingredient in OxyContin and is also contained in other opioid pain relievers.