HEALTH CANADA REPORT LOOKS AT PAINKILLER PRESCRIPTIONS IN ATLANTIC CANADA

Although it was Newfoundland and Nova Scotia that first raised alarms about the abuse of so-called "hillbilly heroin" in Atlantic Canada, it is New Brunswick that accounts for most of the prescriptions for the highly addictive painkiller oxycodone, according to a new Health Canada report. During the first six months of 2005, more than 92,500 prescriptions were filled for oxycodone-based painkillers, such as OxyContin, at 651 retail pharmacies throughout the four Atlantic provinces.

Canada.com (http://www.canada.com/health/story.html?id=58e0e961-befa-478f-8bd5-83c94947ea45)