The government of Newfoundland and Labrador is setting up a task force to look at abuse of the prescription narcotic OxyContin.

Six people have died in the province this year from overdoses of the painkiller.

"Newfoundland seems to be the lead province in the abuse of OxyContin," Health Minister Elizabeth Marshall said as she announced the task force. "There is also abuse noted down along the Eastern Seaboard, so in a way we see ourselves being out there in front."

OxyContin and another prescription painkiller, Dilaudid, have surfaced as major social problems in the Maritimes as well. Police link abuse of the drugs to an increased crime rate.

The Newfoundland and Labrador task force will include representatives from the Departments of Health, Justice and Education.

"We've had incidents as young as 15, and one of our fatalities was 52, so so far, it's covered all age categories," said Deputy Chief Joe Browne of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary.

Marshall wants to create a computerized network that will track all drug prescriptions, but she says that is several years and millions of dollars away.

The task force will present an interim report to the government by the end of January, with a final report to be delivered by March.

The province has asked Purdue Pharma, the manufacturer of OxyContin, to assist the taskforce in developing the education campaign, and a company representative will visit the province.