Internal RCMP report warns nitazenes could surpass fentanyl as ‘defining issue in Canada's opioid crisis’

Internal RCMP report warns nitazenes could surpass fentanyl as ‘defining issue in Canada's opioid crisis’

RCMP in Drummondville, Que, shut down a clandestine lab producing a synthetic opioid in 2024. (RCMP handout) An internal RCMP report says that nitazenes — synthetic opioids police describe as “20 to 40 times more powerful than fentanyl” — could become a defining feature of the opioid crisis in Canada in the coming years. Those drugs, which have been linked to hundreds of deaths in Canada, "are emerging as a growing threat," the report says.