A new report by Ohio's State Pharmacy Board shows a continued decline in opioids dispensed to patients for the seventh consecutive year in 2019.

According to a newly released report from the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy's Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS), total doses of opioids decreased from a high of 793 million in 2012 to 415 million in 2019, a 48 percent decrease.

During the same period, the total number of opioid prescriptions issued to Ohioans decreased by 5 million.

The report also finds Ohio healthcare providers are utilizing OARRS at record levels.

In 2019, more than 240 million patient reports were requested by prescribers and pharmacists.

With the expanded use of the system, the board said the number of Ohioans engaging in doctor shopping behavior continued to remain near an all-time low.

"Ohio has cut the number of opioids in circulation by nearly half from its peak in 2012," said State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy Executive Director Steven W. Schierholt. "Ohio's commitment to working with our prescriber community to encourage safe opioid prescribing is clearly having an impact that will hopefully prevent individuals from misusing these medications in the first place."

Established in 2006, OARRS collects information on all outpatient prescriptions for controlled substances and two non-controlled substances (gabapentin and naltrexone) dispensed by Ohio-licensed pharmacies and personally furnished by Ohio prescribers.

OARRS data is available to prescribers when they treat patients, pharmacists when presented with prescriptions from patients, and law enforcement officers and regulatory agencies during active investigations.