Pill that ‘feels like heroin’

OXYCONTIN is a brand of oxycodone – a highly addictive opioid.

Oxycodone is a synthetic form of morphine, but is twice as strong. OxyContin, which is available on prescription in the UK, has long been the world’s top-selling opioid painkiller and is often prescribed to people suffering from chronic pain.

But some users discovered a heroin-like high by crushing the pills and snorting or injecting them.

Hospital admissions in England for opioid abuse have nearly doubled in the past decade.

And ministers recently announced a review into the growing crisis of prescription drug addiction.

Public health minister Steve Brine admitted he wanted to stop it turning into the ‘huge problem’ seen in countries such as the US.

Overdoses from opioid drugs kill 115 Americans a day.