Last month’s two-day inquest in Young into the death of Cootamundra man Luke Doyle heard the troubling measures taken by addicts whose lives had spiralled out of control by prescription drug addiction.

Mr Doyle was found dead on the front lawn of a Young house in March 2012 after his friends failed to get him to the hospital or call emergency services despite being violently ill.

A former girlfriend first introduced Mr Doyle to the powerful prescription opioid Oxycontin as a teenager, injecting him with the drug.

He would spend much of his remaining years battling addiction despite several desperate interventions by his family.

His family recalled dragging him out of the squalid home he shared with his partner to take him to live in Wyong.

But in the end the pull of the often legally obtained drug was too powerful for even the best efforts of his tight-knit family.

Mr Doyle and his friends’ days would often be filled with figuring out how to obtain their fix – either travelling from drug house to drug house or finding a doctor to fill a prescription.

One of the last people to see Mr Doyle alive – Cootamundra man Matthew Hennock – said he would use Oxycontin on a daily basis and would travel far and wide with Mr Doyle to obtain drugs.

“[I would use] whatever I could really,” he said.

“I used to get them from odd doctors… I would go doctor shopping and sh--.

“I would drive with Luke to Canberra to pick up his script.”

Mr Doyle had injected Oxycontin and taken a number of Xanax tablets – a prescription anti-anxiety drug – before his death.

The inquest heard he had a relatively low tolerance for the drugs and was especially affected by Xanax.

Mr Hennock described the powerful effect the anti-anxiety drug could have on a user.

“[You’ll wake up] and you’ve got your neighbour’s chainsaw or something… it f---s with your memory,” he said.

The inquest revealed it wasn’t just by doctor shopping that addicts in Young would get the drugs, but by targeting people with a legitimate prescription. 

One local said he was plied with alcohol before he was pressured to hand over two of his Oxycontin tablets to Craig Apps - the man believed to have supplied the Oxycontin to Mr Doyle.

“I didn’t want to do it but he kept hassling me and hassling me,” the man said at the inquest.

After the inquest, Mr Doyle’s family – who expressed concern over the accessibility of the drugs – hoped that his death would not be in vain.

“If it can help save one kid that’s a blessing for us,”   aunt Lynne Martin said.

The case has been referred to the Department of Public Prosecutions who will consider if charges will be laid.