The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday recommended tighter controls on how doctors prescribe the most commonly used narcotic painkillers, changes that are expected to take place as early as next year, the New York Times reports.

The move represents a major policy shift and follows a decade-long debate over whether the widely abused drugs, which contain the narcotic hydrocodone, should be controlled as tightly as more powerful painkillers such as OxyContin.

Currently labeled as Schedule III drugs, the new classification suggestion of Schedule II would limit the number of refills patients could receive before having to follow up with their doctor, according to CNN.

To read the full NYT report, click here; to read the CNN report, click here.