PRESCRIPTIONS of “hillbilly heroin”, the powerful drug implicated in the death of the Hollywood actor Heath Ledger, have risen by 430% in Scotland since 2002, new figures have revealed.

Addiction experts and police fear the dramatic rise in the use of the highly addictive painkiller Oxycodone could fuel an illicit trade similar to that which has claimed hundreds of lives in America.

Government figures have revealed that the number of prescriptions for the opiate, marketed in the UK as OxyContin, rose from 13,922 in 2002 to 74,519 in 2007, an increase of 435%.

Since it was licensed for use in the UK in 1999, spending has soared from £4,385 the following year to just under £4m in 2007. On average, the number of prescriptions has risen by about 40% every year.

First synthesised from opium poppies almost a century ago as a heroin substitute, Oxycodone is widely used as a postoperative painkiller for cancer patients and has become one of the most fashionable illicit drugs in the United States.

Jack and Kelly Osbourne, the singer Courtney Love and the actor Owen Wilson have battled with the drug. The father of actress Lindsay Lohan also blamed it for his daughter's erratic behaviour.

Although intended as a slow-release painkiller, with one pill lasting 12 hours, addicts quickly discovered that crushing the tablets and swallowing, snorting or injecting the powder produced an instant “high”. It was dubbed “hillbilly heroin” after communities in America's Appalachian mountains were ravaged by the drug.

Last year its manufacturer, Purdue, agreed to pay a £300m fine after admitting to the US justice department that it had underplayed the drug's addictiveness when marketing it. Withdrawal symptoms include sweats, insomnia, seizures and convulsions.

The drug claimed its first British victim in 2002, when 18-year-old Samantha Jenkinson died after allegedly swallowing seven OxyContin tablets on a night out in Hull.

A police source said: “Many prescription drugs find their way into the hands of dealers, pushers and recreational drug users, and so increased prescriptions of hillbilly heroin is a legitimate concern.”

However, a Scottish government spokeswoman said the use of Oxycodone had increased due to a shortage of pharmaceutical heroin.

“We believe this is linked to a shortage of diamorphine,” said a spokeswoman. “In December 2004, Chiron, the major supplier of diamorphine in the UK, informed the Department of Health that its supplies of this product were limited.

“Guidance was issued to healthcare professionals advising that, wherever possible, patients should be switched to alternative analgesics. Oxycodone was cited as a possible option.”

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