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393517 03: The prescription medicine OxyContin is displayed August 21, 2001 at a Walgreens drugstore in Brookline, MA. The powerful painkiller, manufactured to relieve the pain of seriously ill people, is being used by some addicts to achieve a high similar to a heroin rush. Its popularity among abusers of the drug has resulted in a string of pharmacy robberies nationwide. Armed robbers raid the pharmacies for the painkiller which has a street value of $40 for a 40mg pill. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
Between 1991 and 2004, deaths due to opioid overdose more than doubled in Ontario, an alarming trend that corresponds with an increase in prescriptions for oxycodone, a narcotic pain killer derived from extracts of opium. What’s more, the introduction of oxycontin—a long-acting form of oxycodone—in 2000, was associated with a five-fold increase in opioid-related deaths, according to research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
