POLICE, PARENTS URGE PROBE OF OXYCODONE DRUGS

New concerns are being raised about a group of medications called oxycodone
- -- powerful painkillers that are making their way to the streets and may be
linked to a number of suicides.

A month before he took his life, 29-year-old Ben Daigle told his mother
Laurie that he'd become addicted to a prescription narcotic.

In an interview with CTV News, Laurie Miller said her son told her: "Mom
I'm addicted to a drug called OxyContin and I can't get off."

He told his mother he had started taking it for back pain and a toothache,
but he'd become so addicted he was buying it on the street.

When his body was found in his apartment, he had shot himself. Police also
found a bottle of oxycodone pills and his health card nearby.

"The police thought it was a sort of message that the OxyContin had
affected his life," Miller said.

OxyContin is one brand of a class of medications containing oxycodone.

Used properly oxycodone is a potent pain killer. But it can also lead to
horrible addictions and painful withdrawal with potential links to deaths
and suicides.

Ontario's Chief Coroner, Dr. Barry McLellan said a study by his office
found a dramatic rise in deaths where oxycodone drugs were involved.

"Over the five years between 1999 and 2003 we saw a four-to five-fold
increase in oxycodone deaths where oxycodone was found in the blood,"
McLellandtold CTV News.

Oxycodone abuse is being reported in many Canadian communities. In Thunder
Bay, authorities say it's a common problem.

"The problem is rampant and all over," said Dr. David Legge, the Regional
Supervising Coroner for North West Ontario.

In 2004 alone, Legge said he tallied at least 11 deaths or suicides where
the victims are suspected to have used oxycodone.

"The problem is there and the numbers are up substantially in 2004," Legge
told CTV News.

And, since the start of 2005, he says there are up to three more such
deaths under investigation.

"This is not a good trend," Legge said.

Withdrawal from oxycodone drugs can be an excruciatingly difficult process.
Patients report cramps and extreme pain.

In places like Thunder Bay, law enforcement officials are worried. At
$40 a pill, police say oxycodone is now linked to the majority of home and
pharmacy robberies.

"Oxycodone is the drug of choice for many right now. It's popular out
there. We've noticed a spike in use," said Chris Adams of the Thunder Bay
Police.

"These people are addicted and need to buy these drugs and will go to
extreme measures to get them."

"This is a big story. People need to know about this," Laurie Miller said.

She's joining the growing numbers who say there must be better ways to
control oxycodone abuse. The goal is to have the drug continue to relieve
pain, not create more suffering.

Measures being suggested include:

*Ensuring doctors don't write too many unnecessary prescriptions for the drugs;

*Ensuring there is a system to track patients who are getting prescriptions
from a variety of doctors and then selling the drugs; and

*Implementing extra precautions in pharmacies

Learn more about this powerful drug Saturday, January 8 at 7:00 p.m. on W-FIVE.