Trial Applying Policy to Eliminate or Reduce Inappropriate Narcotics in the General-population

Provincial prescription insurance claims will be used to measure whether or not opioids are dispensed to community-dwelling adults randomized to either the intervention or control groups between baseline and 6-month follow up. Prescription data contain information on all dispensed prescriptions including drug name, dispensing date, dosage, drug form, the quantity of the drug dispensed, and the license number of the physician who wrote the prescription. Discontinuation of an opioid will be defined as the lack of a prescription claim for at least 60 days.

The magnitude and direction of dose changes will be assessed for people who do not achieve the primary endpoint of complete cessation. New pharmacy dispensing of a prescription for a lower strength, or supply of a reduced quantity of tablets/patches will be considered in the dose reduction calculation. Where substitution to an alternative opioid occurs, opioid doses will be converted to "oral morphine equivalents" to determine the magnitude and direction of the change. A therapeutic switch will be indicated by a new dispensing for an alternative medication class.

All opioids will be converted to an oral morphine equivalent dose. The proportion of patients who are prescribed <90mg of oral morphine equivalent at the end of the 6-month follow up will be compared to baseline.