Oxycodone(sold under different brands) is a useful medicine for relieving severe pain when taken as prescribed, but it comes with serious risks. When you have no tolerance to opioids or only have limited tolerance, you can overdose by swallowing oxycodone tablets. And taking more tablets than you are used to can also cause an overdose. The risk is increased when, in order to obtain a "rush", the tablets are tampered with by crushing them, chewing them or powdering them to dissolve them for injection - all practices which result in the immediate release of Oxycontin.