SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The number of people receiving opioid pain medication prescriptions or risky overlapping prescriptions has shown a notable decline in New Mexico since the state ordered doctors to check a database that can indicate whether a patient may be receiving narcotics from multiple sources, according to newly released statistics.

New Mexico has strengthened its prescription monitoring program in response to a surge in its drug overdose death rate in 2014, when the state ranked second only to West Virginia.

On Jan. 1, a law went into effect that requires health care providers to sc...