A method, system, and computer program product for determining a narcotics use indicator to enable a physician, or other prescriber, to quickly review a numerical score that reflects a patient's past drug use and is indicative of proper, or improper, future drug use. This score analyzes many aspects of a patient's past activities to determine multiple individual indicator values that may be selectively weighted to create a final narcotics use indicator. Such individual indicator values may include a usage related indicator factoring in the patient's past drug use, particularly the type of narcotics and controlled substances used; an instruction related indicator that may consider the patient's past use of prescribers, quantity of prescriptions, or the number of open prescriptions from different prescribers; a dispensing related indicator that examines a patient's use of pharmacies, in filling prescriptions; or even an auxiliary indicator that may reflect the patient's number of active prescriptions.