Police suspect abuse of the prescription painkiller OxyContin was the primary cause of death for Penn State senior John Benjamin Henrickson, the Ferguson Township Police Department said.

Henrickson died Sunday in the East Cherry Street apartment he had been sharing with his two roommates since moving away from home. He was an information sciences and technology major.

"We have not received the toxicology report yet, but an investigation indicated that OxyContin was the cause," Ferguson Township Police Chief Edward Connor said.

OxyContin, a trade name for the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride (HCl), is an addictive drug intended as a very strong pain reliever with a time-release factor, said Kim Altobello, intake counselor at Spencer Recovery Center, a drug rehabilitation center specializing in OxyContin abuse.

"When the pill is broken down to be shot up, snorted or whatever, they destroy the time-release factor," Altobello said.

An opiate, OxyContin has some of the same effects as heroin, but without some of its side effects and withdrawal symptoms, said Altobello.

"When you see a heroin addict, you know. But OxyContin is different. It doesn't have some of the same filler crap [as heroin], but it is just as addictive and just as deadly," Altobello said.

Pennsylvania is a high-traffic area for the drug, especially in Philadelphia and southwestern Pennsylvania, said Mary Vaira, spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Philadelphia.

Vaira said overdosing on OxyContin could cause seizures or respiratory depression, especially when taken with alcohol.

Sold for about $1 per milligram on the street, abusers' ages range from 15 to 40 years, Vaira said.

Henrickson's family would not comment about the current investigation. However his mother, Terrie Henrickson, said her son, an avid computer enthusiast, liked everyone and was always willing to help another person out.

"We have received e-mails from people in Uruguay and England, telling us how much he will be missed," she said.