The Manitoba government is launching a public campaign about the dangers of fentanyl. In the last nine weeks there have been seven suspected opioid-related deaths in Winnipeg, and statistics from the Manitoba Office of the Chief Medical Examiner show the number of deaths linked to fentanyl has nearly doubled in the last two years. Police, firefighters, paramedics and politicians have in recent weeks described the fentanyl situation in the city as a crisis, an epidemic, frightening, shocking, scary and tragic. Justice Minister Heather Stefanson, fire chief John Lane, police Chief Danny Smyth and Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen will be at Shaftesbury High School at 1 p.m. Friday to launch the provincewide awareness campaign.​​The United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, whose paramedics say they are now seeing opioid overdoses on a daily basis, launched its own public awareness campaign last week.

Source: CBC News November 25, 2016 15:17 UTC