The Ontario government wants to impose new rules before the end of the year to restrict how the highly addictive painkiller Oxycontin is prescribed and dispensed.

The Health Ministry is also looking at restricting other opiate-based painkillers in order to curb abuse of the drugs.

The measures include a computer tracking system that would monitor how much of the drug is going out and send out alerts if a prescription is received two days in a row.

The government is also looking at capping how many pills can be dispensed at one time, but is still working on what those limits should be.

Helen Stevenson, who oversees Ontario's public drug programs, said Thursday it's not just the government that's concerned about the abuse of narcotics.

She said she gets emails from parents and families who have lost loved ones saying that something needs to be done about the problem.