Beardy says thousands of residents of Northern Ontario reserves are addicted to the drug, which is up to twice as strong as morphine.
Health Canada says when the pill is chewed or crushed, then injected or inhaled, it produces a ``heroin-like euphoria.''
The company that produces OxyContin will stop manufacturing the drug in Canada at the end of the month.
Purdue Pharma Canada will replace OxyContin with a new formulation called OxyNEO, which is formulated to make abuse more difficult.
Beardy says addicts will go into withdrawal, and says it's something that scares him.
He says without treatment to help deal with the addiction, a public health catastrophe is imminent.
