The number of overdoses from prescription pain killers is on the rise, with 800 Australians dying per year, warn health experts.
They say the toll is highest in rural and regional areas, and many addicts are moving across state borders to get their preferred drug.
Dr Suzanne Neilsen said, from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) said there had been a particular increase in the number of pharmaceutical opioid-related deaths in the past decade.
"Some of the medications that we've been looking at include oxycontin, fentanyl, codeine, morphine — they're I guess more commonly prescribed opioids," she said.
Dr Neilsen said one problem was that not all regional areas had accredited prescribers or pharmacies that provided treatment.
Addiction specialist Dr Roger Brough, who works in regional Victoria, said his work had shifted from heroine drug use to prescription overuse in the past 15 years.
In one recent case, Dr Brough said a nurse collecting high-dosage prescription medication told him that she was being followed during her trips to the pharmacy.
"She was probably known in the community as a nurse, it made her very aware first-hand of the sort of practice we are aware do go on in pharmacies," he said.
Dr Brough said he knew of patients moving across borders to get as many drugs as possible.
"They have to travel significant distances to be relatively ensured of their anonymity — traveling to NSW, South Australia, Tasmania," he said.
