Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen said the RCMP's Thursday announcement of an agreement with China will help stop the flow of fatal opioid fentanyl into Manitoba. Goertzen said co-operation with China was one of the priorities put forward by the provinces at the Ottawa summit he attended last week with federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and other provincial ministers. "But I think that it's going to be a lot better than where we are right now where we don't have enough vigorous enforcement." Fentanyl, a highly potent and addictive opioid, is estimated to be up to 100 times stronger than morphine. Another opioid known as carfentanil, commonly used as an animal tranquilizer, is 100 times more powerful than fentanyl.

Source: CBC News November 25, 2016 00:26 UTC